Thank you, Madam Speaker. Monte Kwinter was for so many years my own MPP. He loved his community and it was obvious. He set a high standard of being an MPP in attending as many local events as he could, and he surrounded himself with capable and loyal staff, who were an extension of himself. He set a standard of excellence when it came time to returning calls—even those calls that were difficult, because one of them was mine. His colleagues describe him as respectful and polite and gracious and elegant. These are traits we need now more than ever.

I had many personal opportunities to see him in action, but perhaps it was his grandson’s comments at the funeral in the eulogy he gave when he said it’s about being “in the arena”—that the greatest distinction is service to others.

I heard many stories that he spent a lot of time criss-crossing the aisle right here in this chamber because he had friends all over this chamber. He was an exemplary individual who was compassionate and empathetic. These, again, are traits that we need so badly in 2023.

His campaigns were by all standards old-fashioned, but they were real. For many of us, we remember him and his late wife, Wilma, sitting or standing at the corner of Bathurst and Wilson, just waving and connecting with thousands of cars driving by. I have to tell you it worked for me. This was Monte.

Madame la Présidente, la raison de leur service est pour faire une différence dans la vie des gens—lorsqu’ils ne s’y attendent pas—et parce que nous croyons en notre province et en notre avenir.

And Monte believed we can make a difference in someone’s life every day, because he believed in our province and in our future.

“A man,” wrote an Irish poet, “is original when he speaks the truth that has always been known to all good men,” and Monte was an original. He was a good man, a man of character, a man who loved his family and his treasured wife, Wilma—and we remember Wilma today.

Monte and I were about the same age when our journey began. Monte served here almost 33 years; I have a long way to go. But when you start at this age, you start by leaving your ego behind; you start with understanding that we have a role to do good here, and he did good. He was, in fact, the minister of corrections and public safety in the early 2000s, about 20 years ago, a role that I have today—another great connection to Monte.

But one thing that always struck me was his gentility and his kindness and his wanting to learn about others. He was one of about two dozen Jewish MPPs who have been elected here since Confederation, grounded in the values that he knew about his religion, and he took it seriously—something I do as well.

People don’t become leaders because they’re great; they become great because they’re willing to serve as leaders. He did so in the cabinet of both Premier Peterson and Premier McGuinty, in tough roles. Sometimes he said things his party didn’t agree with, and that was okay with the residents of York Centre. When Monte spoke, people listened.

In my office remains a legacy of Monte, a beautiful collage oil painting with specific instructions: that this painting belongs to those who serve as MPP for York Centre, something that I treasure.

A Canadian Rabbi, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, once wrote how we have to, as Canadians, be inspired with optimism and humility and devotion to kindness. Again, this was Monte.

So, to Richard and Rob and Lisa and Kathy and all of the esteemed people in the gallery today, we say, may Monte’s memory always be for a blessing, and may you find comfort in the legacy he left us all here. Thank you. Merci. Meegwetch.

It is an honour to rise on behalf of the official opposition and pay tribute to the late Monte Kwinter. We are fortunate to be joined today by members of his family: Richard and Robert Kwinter, Lisa Rotenberg, Marlene Yip, Joni Kwinter, Matthew Rotenberg, Hy Shore—as well as many friends, other former parliamentarians and, of course, many more watching from afar.

I never had the pleasure to meet Monte, but I knew his name well, growing up in the neighbouring riding that I now represent, Humber River–Black Creek. As an everyday youth, I had no concept of political ridings, so he was a larger-than-life persona who represented part of the greater community I thought myself a part of.

To those who knew and loved him, his history and accomplishments are well known. Born in Toronto on March 22, 1931, Monte was a man of many talents and interests. He pursued education in many post-secondary institutions, both here in Canada and the United States. And prior to entering the political arena, he was the successful owner of his own real estate firm, also serving as the vice-president of the Ontario College of Art.

Monte was first elected as a Liberal member of provincial Parliament in 1985 for the riding of Wilson Heights, which later became York Centre. Beginning his new political life at the age of 54, he went on to win a stunning nine successive elections spanning 33 years and including multiple cabinet posts—a true testament to his local popularity and approval, regardless of the times. During that three-decade tenure, Monte achieved an incredible record of his time, becoming the oldest person to ever serve in the Ontario Legislature at the age of 81 years and 310 days, showing his enduring commitment and dedication.

He accomplished many things as an MPP, including a bill that allowed greater access to naturopathic medicine; strong advocacy for the creation of the all-digital, local Humber River Hospital that continues to serve and treat countless individuals in their time of need; and he brought long-overdue Holocaust remembrance and Jewish observances here in Ontario’s Parliament. And, of course, much, much more.

Never having had the privilege to serve with Monte, I reached out to a common friend, well-respected former MPP Percy Hatfield, who was a contemporary to Monte here in the Legislature, to personalize this in a way I cannot, having never met him myself. He was kind enough to share a few words and was honoured to speak about Monte. Here is an excerpt of what he said:

“I first met Monte during the 1985 provincial election campaign. I was the CBC TV reporter assigned to Liberal leader David Peterson’s media bus, covering the election for all CBC stations in the province. One of our Toronto stops was when the campaign team pulled over to join Monte where they made his brother Jack’s gourmet hot dogs, and yes, as you already know—the Kwinter gourmet hot dogs were delicious!

“Of course, Monte won that election, in a Liberal minority government, and had several cabinet assignments in the following years and terms in office ... as a parliamentary assistant.”

Percy goes on to say, “I was elected in a by-election in Windsor–Tecumseh, in 2013” and “that’s when I got to know Mr. Kwinter” better. “I always thought of him as the elder statesman of the Liberal caucus at that point. We would chat from time to time, I reminded him” many times “of our first meeting with the gourmet hot dogs ... and I discovered while researching my first attempt to create the position of a Poet Laureate for Ontario, that Monte Kwinter has previously had the same idea but even though his party was in power at the time, his private member’s bill didn’t lead to the creation of the office, demonstrating the difficulty of success in the adoption of private member bills, regardless of party affiliation.”

Speaker, as you know, Percy took up Monte’s torch in the establishment of this worthy endeavour, the Poet Laureate, until it finally passed. Percy further said, “I paid tribute to Monte’s” great “efforts at that” time “during my first attempt ... and I didn’t get the Poet Laureate position, in memory of the late Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip through the House until my third try ... but I knew Monte always had my back on that private member’s bill, even after he had retired.”

Percy concluded by saying, “Monte Kwinter was a nice man, a quiet man, not one to heckle across the aisle from his seat in the front row. He was highly regarded in the House. When he spoke”—and we’re hearing it again—“people listened.

“His favourite part of the job was meeting his constituents. He served them well over his many years in office, and I hold the opinion, that despite his health challenges in his final years, the people of Wilson Heights and” later “York Centre would have re-elected him again had he allowed his name to stand one final time.”

Speaker, I regret never having met the late Monte Kwinter, and I feel honoured and privileged to remember him here today. May he rest in peace after a well-lived, well-accomplished, well-respected and well-remembered life—the kind of life we can all hope to achieve. Thank you.

It is truly an honour and a privilege to pay tribute to Monte Kwinter, MPP for Wilson Heights in the 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th Parliaments, and member for York Centre in the 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Parliaments. Nine Parliaments; nine elections; six Premiers, more than 33 years of service to his community: That is a pretty incredible accomplishment by any standard.

He was first elected when he was 54, exactly the same age I was elected at. And it is unimaginable to me that I would be here 23 years later—and probably for most of you, right?

Interjections.

I only sat with Monte for five years, so I had to do some reading and talk to a few people so I could get to know Monte a bit better. I came to the conclusion that Monte was truly a happy, faithful warrior. Whether in his role as a minister or a parliamentary assistant leading a trade mission, or just working as a community MPP, he was always successful and happy.

Now, I did see an interesting article from the Toronto Star. This should be interesting to many of you, because this is January 1986. When he was first made Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations in June of 1985, Monte said that the Ontario censor board should not be determining which movies people can see, which was something the government and the Premier of the time didn’t actually believe in—but Monte believed it. It was a lesson learned for him, though.

I had never heard of if this before, but I guess there was the infamous “salamigate,” where apparently Monte was bringing two salamis to his daughter in Israel on a trade mission. The folks on the other side were making a big deal of it, calling it a “salamigate,” inferring that somehow he was trying to take advantage of this trade mission to advantage a family business. Of course, all they wanted was for Monte to take the bait, which he didn’t do.

In the same article—and you all will get a kick out of this—it said, “The biggest challenge now facing Kwinter is introducing legislation allowing for the sale of beer and wine in corner stores,” which was not supported by the NDP or the Tories at the time. We’re almost 40 years later, folks. Isn’t that incredible?

I read a great remembrance by Steve Paikin. There is a lot of really good stuff in it, so if you get the chance, you should read it. You can find it online. Here is what struck me the most, and I think it is really important to all of us in here:

“No one at Queen’s Park knew Kwinter as well as Pina Conicella, who worked in his office for all of Kwinter’s time at the Legislature.

“‘Monte was never in a bad mood.... He came to the office every morning, regardless of what was going on in his life, and asked us how we were doing. He really cared for us all. He was like a dad to me.’

“Conicella says that, no matter how sticky the circumstances, she never saw Kwinter lose his temper or raise his voice. ‘If we made a mistake, he would say, “‘No problem—it can be fixed,’” and that reduced lots of anxiety among the staff,’ she says. He believed in me and had confidence in me, hence why I stuck around so long.” I think that’s an important thing for all of us to remember. That’s a lesson that Monte left for all of us. He had it right.

My former boss Premier Dalton McGuinty shared with me some thoughts and some of the comments he made when they celebrated Monte’s—I was going to say, “retirement from politics,” but I think it was a departure from here; I’m not sure if he ever really retired. Here is something Dalton said in 2018:

“Monte has a proud bearing.... He can be very private ... but he long ago revealed himself to be who he truly is: a man of unwavering devotion.

“He enthusiastically pursued politics.... He dedicated himself to so many for so long ... because Monte genuinely enjoys helping ... people who face challenges in life they simply can’t overcome on their own.”

Now, Speaker, I know I have been over time, but I have to share this—it’s kind of strange. When I got here and I met Monte, really for the first time, spending time with him, he always made me think of my mother. I don’t know why. I couldn’t figure it out, but it was like, I’d look at Monte and Mom would pop into my head. After doing all of this, I understand now: Still waters run deep. Monte was a rock; he was a person of deep faith. And that presence that he had was the same kind of presence I’d seen in my mother and that I’d seen in other people. He really was a very, very special member of this assembly, a special person, a great man.

Here’s the last paragraph of the article that I referenced earlier: “Despite his rather stark introduction to his political life, he has already begun campaigning in shopping malls for the next election, expected in two years. However, he said, ‘I certainly don’t look upon this as being my life.’” I’m not sure that Monte would say the same thing right now, because it was his life. He brought life to this place.

I want to thank all of the family for being here. It’s really an honour to say some words about your dad, your grandfather and just a very special man. I feel very honoured and privileged. Thank you very much for your time.