Peter Kormos: dead at 60
- Thread starter Walter
- Start date
Peter Kormos only major fault that he was an NDPer from the left side of the tracks.
Peter was a scrapper and would not back down from any fight. He was a rebel and refused to wear a tie in the Ontario Legislature. Peter also got kicked out of the NDP Cabinet for being a Toronto Suns’ sunshine boy
He stuck to his principals and left beloved party when the NDP was in power when Bob Rae refused to keep his promise on bringing in government auto insurance like they had in British Columbia another province of Canada.
Peter was one of those politicians that fought for his constituents and took the job seriously RIP Peter.
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Peter Kormos: One year after his death
Peter Kormos. It’s a name, and a personality, that won’t soon be forgotten.
“He’s a local cultural icon,” said Welland artist James Takeo.
“He represents that fierce pride that’s in this community.”
Takeo, who is co-ordinator of this year’s Welland Rose Festival juried art show, has assembled a collection of local images that pay tribute to the maverick who one year ago March 30 was found dead at his Bald St. home at the age of 60.
Takeo, who sold a pencil drawing of Kormos to someone from outside Niagara at last year’s festival, heard through the grapevine that others have been immortalizing the politician in art.
“I knew I couldn’t be the only one,” he said.
The artwork display now at the festival office on East Main St., includes Takeo’s large painting of a Kormos in his earlier day in politics.
The collection “is a celebration of the legacy he’s left behind,” he says.
On Saturday morning plans were unveiled for a new Welland Market Court on Division St. the gateway to market square is to include a water feature in which will be set a pair of bronze cowboy boots, a constant reminder of the man who was all-things Welland.
“Nobody’s ever going to replace him, and we want his memory to go on forever and ever,” Dan Fortier told a market audience.
Fortier, who was appointed from city council to fill Kormos’s vacant regional council chair, on Sunday planned to erect the New Democrat’s old election signs on the front yard of his Colbeck Dr. home Sunday as a tribute to the great orator and champion of social justice causes.
“Politically,” said Fortier, “I’ve got big boots to fill.”
In her roles as a city councillor, mayor and advocate for the struggling working class and poor, Cindy Forster forged a strong bond with Kormos over two decades.
“I always said he was my date for 20 years. we both had the same calendars,” Forster said.
“He was always the voice of the taxpayer, and didn’t care who he ticked off in the process.”
He became very well known across the province. And reporters could always count on him for a clever sound bite.
And so could his political peers.
“I think there was an expectation that they were going to hear from Peter on each and every issue,” said Forster, Welland riding’s MPP.
Just last week, she noted, as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was raising the matter of the impending Energex Tube steel plant idling in Welland, a member of the Tory caucus remarked on Kormos’s absence.
“What I heard was ‘Kormos would be reeling about this if he was here,” Forster said.
She remembered that when he resigned from provincial politics in 2011 he questioned aloud how long it would take for people to forget about him.
“I said, ‘They’re never going to forget you.’”
As he would not forget them during his regular visits to the farmers’ market, or during his handshaking along the Rose Festival parade route.
“Peter was unique as a politician for the city of Welland. (His death) has left a big void,” said Ward 5 Coun. Rocky Letourneau.
“He knew everybody by name.”
His “greetings” would almost always start with “Howdy.”
Malcolm Allen misses that about his friend of some 20 years.
He also remembers the talk he had with Kormos, encouraging him to fill Forster’s vacancy in Niagara Region council chambers — a seat swap it came down to.
“I told him, ‘You have a role to play in local politics.’”
Kormos, he said, will always be missed during the region’s annual ‘Niagara Week’ sessions at Queen’s Park, when local officials head to Toronto to meet with various ministry representatives. Kormos would have been able to point out who to speak to, and who to bypass.
“He really knew all the inside players and knew how to get the region on the map.”
Allen said Kormos’s oratory skills could elevate the profile of any issue.
“When he spoke, people stood up and took notice.”
For one regional councillor from St. Catharines, Kormos was both a sparring partner and a close friend.
“I’ve got to say, selfishly, I miss him as an ally at the region,” Andy Petrowski said.
The two men would regularly compare notes over the phone, be in in preparation for a Thursday night debate in Thorold or for their short-lived CKTB radio show The Region.
He, too, like many people who reflected on the anniversary of Kormos’s death this past weekend, remarked how the politician’s trademark “Howdy” greeting is sadly gone.
“He was also a person who would use the word ‘kindly’ a lot,” he noted.
In the short time he knew the tireless advocate, Petrowski came to learn much about him, including his ability of speed reading.
“I think the greatest stories of Peter will never be told,” he said, wishing he could have learned more about the private side of the man.
The death of Kormos “was probably one of the more significant deaths of the past year in Ontario,” he said.
“He was a maverick for the people.
“We need more mavericks like Peter Kormos in government holding people accountable.
“He was a rebel with a cause — and if he didn’t have one, he’d find one.”
Peter Kormos: One year after his death | St. Catharines Standard
Peter Kormos. It’s a name, and a personality, that won’t soon be forgotten.
“He’s a local cultural icon,” said Welland artist James Takeo.
“He represents that fierce pride that’s in this community.”
Takeo, who is co-ordinator of this year’s Welland Rose Festival juried art show, has assembled a collection of local images that pay tribute to the maverick who one year ago March 30 was found dead at his Bald St. home at the age of 60.
Takeo, who sold a pencil drawing of Kormos to someone from outside Niagara at last year’s festival, heard through the grapevine that others have been immortalizing the politician in art.
“I knew I couldn’t be the only one,” he said.
The artwork display now at the festival office on East Main St., includes Takeo’s large painting of a Kormos in his earlier day in politics.
The collection “is a celebration of the legacy he’s left behind,” he says.
On Saturday morning plans were unveiled for a new Welland Market Court on Division St. the gateway to market square is to include a water feature in which will be set a pair of bronze cowboy boots, a constant reminder of the man who was all-things Welland.
“Nobody’s ever going to replace him, and we want his memory to go on forever and ever,” Dan Fortier told a market audience.
Fortier, who was appointed from city council to fill Kormos’s vacant regional council chair, on Sunday planned to erect the New Democrat’s old election signs on the front yard of his Colbeck Dr. home Sunday as a tribute to the great orator and champion of social justice causes.
“Politically,” said Fortier, “I’ve got big boots to fill.”
In her roles as a city councillor, mayor and advocate for the struggling working class and poor, Cindy Forster forged a strong bond with Kormos over two decades.
“I always said he was my date for 20 years. we both had the same calendars,” Forster said.
“He was always the voice of the taxpayer, and didn’t care who he ticked off in the process.”
He became very well known across the province. And reporters could always count on him for a clever sound bite.
And so could his political peers.
“I think there was an expectation that they were going to hear from Peter on each and every issue,” said Forster, Welland riding’s MPP.
Just last week, she noted, as NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was raising the matter of the impending Energex Tube steel plant idling in Welland, a member of the Tory caucus remarked on Kormos’s absence.
“What I heard was ‘Kormos would be reeling about this if he was here,” Forster said.
She remembered that when he resigned from provincial politics in 2011 he questioned aloud how long it would take for people to forget about him.
“I said, ‘They’re never going to forget you.’”
As he would not forget them during his regular visits to the farmers’ market, or during his handshaking along the Rose Festival parade route.
“Peter was unique as a politician for the city of Welland. (His death) has left a big void,” said Ward 5 Coun. Rocky Letourneau.
“He knew everybody by name.”
His “greetings” would almost always start with “Howdy.”
Malcolm Allen misses that about his friend of some 20 years.
He also remembers the talk he had with Kormos, encouraging him to fill Forster’s vacancy in Niagara Region council chambers — a seat swap it came down to.
“I told him, ‘You have a role to play in local politics.’”
Kormos, he said, will always be missed during the region’s annual ‘Niagara Week’ sessions at Queen’s Park, when local officials head to Toronto to meet with various ministry representatives. Kormos would have been able to point out who to speak to, and who to bypass.
“He really knew all the inside players and knew how to get the region on the map.”
Allen said Kormos’s oratory skills could elevate the profile of any issue.
“When he spoke, people stood up and took notice.”
For one regional councillor from St. Catharines, Kormos was both a sparring partner and a close friend.
“I’ve got to say, selfishly, I miss him as an ally at the region,” Andy Petrowski said.
The two men would regularly compare notes over the phone, be in in preparation for a Thursday night debate in Thorold or for their short-lived CKTB radio show The Region.
He, too, like many people who reflected on the anniversary of Kormos’s death this past weekend, remarked how the politician’s trademark “Howdy” greeting is sadly gone.
“He was also a person who would use the word ‘kindly’ a lot,” he noted.
In the short time he knew the tireless advocate, Petrowski came to learn much about him, including his ability of speed reading.
“I think the greatest stories of Peter will never be told,” he said, wishing he could have learned more about the private side of the man.
The death of Kormos “was probably one of the more significant deaths of the past year in Ontario,” he said.
“He was a maverick for the people.
“We need more mavericks like Peter Kormos in government holding people accountable.
“He was a rebel with a cause — and if he didn’t have one, he’d find one.”
Peter Kormos: One year after his death | St. Catharines Standard
