Chris Korwin-Kuczynski (born 1953) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

municipal politician. He served as a councillor in

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from 1981 to 2003, and was the city's deputy

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

for a time. He was born in Toronto, and holds a

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degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. He has been a director of the Polish-Canadian Congress, and has served as a special assistant to the federal Minister of State for Multiculturalism. He ran unsuccessfully for city council in 1980 as Chris Korwin but was successful on his second attempt, in a 1981 by-election. In 1992, Korwin-Kuczynski successfully urged that the music group Barenaked Ladies be banned from performing a concert in

Nathan Phillips Square Nathan Phillips Square is an urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named for Nathan Phillips, mayor of Tor ...

because he believed their name objectified women. This decision was widely ridiculed, and gave considerable publicity to the then-obscure band. Korwin-Kuczynski was a member of the council's right-wing, and was a frequent ally of fellow councillor

Tom Jakobek Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Kyle Rae Kyle Rae (born January 23, 1954) is a Canadian consultant and former politician. Rae was a member of Toronto City Council from 1991 to 2010, representing Ward 6 in the old city from 1991 to 1997 and Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale following the m ...

has suggested that Korwin-Kuczynski became isolated on council when Jakobek left in 2000. In 1993, Korwin-Kuczynski was removed as chair of the Toronto Board of Health after criticizing a strongly worded AIDS prevention pamphlet published by the AIDS Committee of Toronto. He had suggested that the committee, which received significant support from Toronto's

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

community, be denied city funding if it continued publishing such materials. Referring to his dismissal after the vote, he commented, " e only real issue I think this all stems from is AIDS, the whole issue surrounding the gay issue".

, who is openly

, has said that Korwin-Kuczynski was anti-gay during the early 1990s but later changed his views. In 2003, Rae was quoted as saying, "He's now generally supportive of these issues, but that didn't come easily." He opposed a 1996 municipal bill that banned smoking in restaurants and bars, and requested that provincial Premier

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

veto the measure. Korwin-Kuczynski considered running for the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

nomination in

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in the 1997 federal election, but ultimately declined. He retired from the council in 2003, amid rumours that he would move into consulting work. He endorsed

Dennis Mills Dennis Joseph Mills (born July 19, 1946) is a Canadian businessman and former politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Toronto—Danforth in the east-end of downtown Toronto. From February 2012 until November 2016, M ...

's bid for re-election in the 2004 federal election, and a newspaper report from the period suggest that he was considering running as a Liberal candidate in the next federal election. On September 27, 2006, he filed papers to run in the

2006 Toronto municipal election The 2006 Toronto municipal election took place on 13 November 2006 to elect a mayor and 44 city councillors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District ...

in Ward 14. However the next day he withdrew his nomination. This allowed him to retain a fundraising surplus of $21,742 left over from his last campaign. If he hadn't done this the money would have flowed into the city coffers.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061007.CIVIC07/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/ Korwin-Kuczynski is a former honorary captain of the

Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

, and once served as a director on the board of the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto.

References

External links

Former city councillor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korwin-Kuczynski, Chris 1953 births Living people Canadian people of Polish descent Toronto city councillors