Peter Kormos
Encyclopedia
Peter Kormos is a politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. A former lawyer, he was first elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...

 (ONDP) Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

  in the Welland
Welland (provincial electoral district)
Welland is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since the 2007 provincial election...

  constituency
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...

 in a 1988 provincial by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

. He replaced veteran NDP legislator Mel Swart
Mel Swart
Melvin Leroy Swart was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democrat from 1975 to 1988....

. Kormos was re-elected in every Ontario general election since then. He did not seek re-election in 2011.

Early life and education

Kormos first attained notoriety in the Welland
Welland, Ontario
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada.The city has been traditionally known as the place where rails and water meet, referring to the railways from Buffalo to Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of Welland Canal and Welland River,...

 area while still in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, while president of his student council
Student council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...

. Kormos led a sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...

 student strike against local administration practices and students' rights. The week-long strike brought school activities to a halt, resulting in Kormos's temporary expulsion. He was later educated at Niagara College
Niagara College
Niagara College is a College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The College has four campuses: the Welland Campus in Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, home of the Tourism Industry...

, York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

 and Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian Palladian and Neoclassical styles. It houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada...

 in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. Called to the bar in 1980, Kormos then worked as a barrister in the Niagara region.

Provincial by-election 1988

Kormos was a practicing criminal lawyer, and a local Wellend city councillor in 1988, when long-time Welland
Welland (provincial electoral district)
Welland is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since the 2007 provincial election...

 Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Mel Swart
Mel Swart
Melvin Leroy Swart was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democrat from 1975 to 1988....

 decided to retire due to health reasons. Swart was a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 ONDP MPP, in a heavily unionized constituency. The constituency had a long history of electing "populist" politicians, going back to 1951 to Swart's predecessor, Ellis Morningstar. The by-election occurred in the middle of two other major elections at the time: the Canadian General election known as the "Free Trade" election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

, and the Wellend city council election. Kormos continued the "populist" approach pioneered by Morningstar and Swart, and won a heated – and what the The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 called, "[a] vote as dirty as mudwrestling" – election on November 3, 1988.

Bob Rae government 1990–1995

The NDP won government under Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

 in the general election of 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....

, and Kormos was appointed to cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 as Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations and Minister of Financial Institutions on October 1, 1990. Notably, he was expected to implement a public auto insurance system, a longstanding cornerstone of Ontario NDP policy. Rae subsequently backed away from this goal, against considerable opposition from the outspoken Kormos and other party members, including Swart and Kormos' supporter and fellow MPP Mark Morrow
Mark Morrow
Mark Morrow is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.-Background:...

.

Kormos additionally elicited controversy by appearing, fully clothed, as a "Sunshine Boy" model in the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...

tabloid. This was anathema to some in the party, because of the Sun's politically conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 position and because of the Sunshine Boy's place as a parallel to the "Sunshine Girl" franchise, pictures of scantily-clothed women given considerably more prominence than the Sunshine Boy. Kormos was dropped from cabinet on March 18, 1991. For the remainder of Rae's term in office, Kormos acted as an unofficial "left opposition" within the NDP caucus, together with Morrow and, until his resignation, Anglican priest Dennis Drainville
Dennis Drainville
Dennis Paul Drainville is a Canadian bishop an educator and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1993; later taught Humanities and History for 12 years at the Cegep College de la Gaspésie et des Îles, and is now Anglican Bishop of Quebec.-Ontario...

. In 1993, this group and former cabinet minister Karen Haslam
Karen Haslam
Karen Haslam is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and served as a Minister in the government of Bob Rae. Later, she became the Mayor of Stratford, Ontario.-Background:Haslam was a teacher and librarian...

 were the only NDP MPPs to vote against the Rae government's Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...

legislation.

The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...

, though Kormos's personal popularity was such that he was re-elected without difficulty.

NDP opposition years 1995–2011

After Rae's retirement, Kormos sought the leadership of the Ontario NDP at the convention held on June 22, 1996. He placed third, behind Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin, PC is a former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister. On November 30, 2010, Frances Lankin was appointed by the province to co-chair, along with Dr. Munir Sheikh, a comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario...

 and Howard Hampton
Howard Hampton
Howard George Hampton, MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's...

. He threw his support to Hampton, which played significantly in Hampton's victory.

He was widely expected to contest the leadership in 2009, following Hampton's retirement, but instead supported the successful candidacy of Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...

.

Kormos served as House Leader
House Leader
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament and an expert in parliamentary procedure...

 for the Ontario NDP Caucus from 2001 until his retirement in 2011 and also held numerous critic portfolios
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...

 in Opposition, including Justice, Community Safety and Correctional Services, Consumer and Business Services, Labour, and Democratic Renewal. On June 3, 2011, Kormos announced that he will not be running for office again, and will retire after 23 years at the Legislative Assembly.

Views

During the debate on same-sex marriage he stated his position that "government should get out of the marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 business," which some critics see as an equivocal stance designed to placate social conservatives
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...

 opposed to same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

. Nevertheless, Kormos is generally regarded as an ally of the province's gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 community, and has supported several bills expanding the range of same-sex benefits in the province.

Kormos represents socialist economic values with a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

, working-class presentation. He is notable for showing up in the provincial legislature in open-neck shirt and cowboy boots. He opposes the Third Way
Third way (centrism)
The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...

 movement made famous by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

.

Kormos was a political mentor to prominent Canadian actress Sarah Polley
Sarah Polley
Sarah Polley is a Canadian actress, singer, film director, and screenwriter. Polley first attained notice in her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series, Road to Avonlea...

.

External links

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