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What draws a person to the political life In Call Me Giambattista John Ciaccia recounts his immi- gration to Canada from Italy as a small child in 1937 to his retirement from the National Assembly of Quebec in 1998. After studying at McGill Uni- versitys Faculty of Law practising in a Montreal law rm and shifting gears to work as a federal civil servant a phone call in 1973 from Premier Robert Bourassa launched Ciaccias twenty-ve- year career in Quebec politics. As a federalist politician from an Italian back- ground Ciaccia faced many challenges. When rst elected he negotiated the James Bay Agreement with the Cree and the Inuit and later as Quebecs minister of Native Affairs he was the key negotia- tor in the Oka crisis of 1990. Over the course of his career he held four cabinet posts including Inter- national Affairs and he ended his political career as the longest-serving member of the National Assembly. Ciaccia details all of these events and more and explains his relationships with leading gures such as Robert Bourassa Claude Ryan Pierre Trudeau Ren Lvesque and Jacques Parizeau. Revealing his approach to politics Ciaccia describes the lessons he learned from his career and underscores the importance of acting according to ones convictions. An intriguing memoir of an Italian immigrant who came to hold key roles in the Quebec govern- ment Call Me Giambattista tells the story of a political leader and the choices he made during a seminal period in Quebec history. John Ciaccia is a former cabinet minister and the author of The Oka Crisis A Mirror of the Soul. He lives in Montreal. 1 7 M Q U P F A L L 2 0 1 5 A U T O B I O G R A P H Y C A N A D I A N H I S T O R Y Call Me Giambattista A Personal and Political Journey john ciaccia Recounting a political life lived during a turbulent time in Quebec. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S Footprints Series September 2015 978-0-7735-4577-9 39.95T CDN 39.95T US 27.99 cloth 6 x 9 272pp 28 photos Ebook available