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.