Career
He continued to be elected to political offices in Graubünden into the 1940s. At first educated at Swiss schools, he proceeded to study law in Berlin and Freiburg and was awarded the title of doctor of jurisprudence by the University of Freiburg. Canova became involved in Graubünden"s social democratic politics as a lawyer in Chur.
He was elected to his first term in the National Council of Switzerland in 1922, and was a part-time editor of Graubünden"s Bündner Volkswacht during the 1920s.
A proponent of secularist ideas, Canova was legally tried and convicted of blasphemy in 1925 for material published in the Volkswacht following a lawsuit begun on behalf of a Swiss Catholic association, and his career in the assembly came to a temporary halt after the controversy. A brief note on the episode in a March 1925 issue Time magazine reported that
Canova continued to hold political offices in Graubünden long after his second term with the National Council.
During the Second World War, Canova delivered a notable anti-fascist speech as Graubünden Standespräsident in November 1940. Its content was officially censored, and the address remained unpublished until 1980.
Canova died on January 21, 1962 in Chur, Graubünden.