Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell The first session of Canada's 37th Parliament unanimously passed a Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell on June 21, 2002, to affirm that Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone. The symbolic motion was a response to the 107th United States Congress' earlier resolution (HRes 269) of June 11, 2002, which recognized the contributions of Antonio Meucci. Due to a misleading press release issued by U.S. Congressman Vito Fossella, this was interpreted by some as establishing priority for the invention of the telephone to Meucci. The House of Representatives' Resolution
Canadian Parliamentary Motion on Alexander Graham Bell 10 days earlier by only a single Congressional body to recognize the "...work in the invention of the telephone" made by Antonio Meucci", but also impugning the character of Alexander Graham Bell. The perceived attack on Bell's primacy and character did not sit well with many Canadians and their parliamentarians, in a country where the inventor-scientist is often viewed as a native son. Only days after the U.S. resolution was announced, Major Chris Friel of Brantford, Ontario near the site where Bell invented the telephone's theoretical concept, dismissed the U.S. resolution out of hand, stating ""Absolutely, the credit [for the