Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell with Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps to discuss the motion. Many Italian Canadians were upset by the motion due to long held beliefs that Meucci was the telephone's inventor, according to the Italian-language weekly "L'Ora Di Ottawa". The motion was still referred to years after its passage, in reference to Bell's primacy in the invention of the telephone. In an article on author Charlotte Gray's new book "Reluctant Genius", the "Ottawa Citizen" noted "…Bell invented the telephone company… [and] thanks to a 2002 motion, the Parliament of Canada continues to recognize Bell as the [telephone's] inventor". Canadian Parliamentary Motion on
Invention of the telephone first person to suggest the idea of a telephone exchange". Bell has been widely recognized as the "inventor" of the telephone outside of Italy, where Meucci was championed as its inventor. In the United States, there are numerous reflections of Bell as a North American icon for inventing the telephone, and the matter was for a long time non-controversial. In June 2002, however, the United States House of Representatives passed a symbolic bill recognizing the contributions of Antonio Meucci ""in the invention of the telephone"" (not ""for the invention of the telephone""), throwing the matter into some controversy. Ten days