Niagara, Ontario MPP Pays Homage To Peter Kormos In Provincial Legislature – A Statement From Cindy Forster

QUEEN’S PARK, April 8, 2013 – Today in the Ontario  legislature – the first day the legislature has been back in session since Peter Kormos’s passing – Welland MPP Cindy Forster offered the following statement on the passing of former Welland MPP Peter Kormos.

Niagara, Ontario’s Welland riding MPP Cindy Forster

“On March 30, 2013, the Welland riding, the Niagara region and constituents across this the province lost a friend, colleague, mentor and a fiercely outspoken advocate committed to the values of equity, fairness and justice.

 “Peter Kormos represented his constituents and the people of this province for more than a quarter of a century as a city councillor, an MPP and, finally, a regional councillor, and he represented them well. His loyalty to his constituents was unwavering and theirs to him.

“He was an eloquent orator, an intellect, well read, and he used these tributes and skills to provoke controversy and to ensure good public debate. As the NDP Labour Critic and the NDP House leader, he served us well. His command of parliamentary rules and procedures was second to none and his challenges were rarely overruled. On picket lines across this province year after year, he defended the rights of workers; he lifted their spirits on their lowest days, telling them to be proud of their strengths and courage and not to apologize for trying to have a better life for their families.

“I’ve encountered hundreds of people over this past week, from a public school teacher to his Cub leader — imagine that, Peter Kormos was a Cub, and the organizations that he’s helped. Every day that I’ve been here for 18 months, a day has not gone by when somebody has asked me, ‘How is Peter Kormos?’— from the maintenance and cleaning people to the Attorney General.

“Peter wouldn’t want us to be sad about his passing. He would want us to spend this time continuing to fight for fair and equitable access to public health care without having to use your credit card, for affordable public auto insurance, for improved health and safety, for good collective bargaining processes, for a living wage for all and for improvements to human rights. He may not be with us here today in body, but he’ll continue to inspire all of us for years to come. 

“Rest peacefully, my friend.”

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