Steve Peter steps back after 37 years in politics

Steve Peters resigned his seat as a member of St. Thomas council on Oct. 15, with hopes of creating more time for family, and his passion for local history, while also focusing on his year-old role as chair of the Leamington-based Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) board of directors.

“I’m 62 years old, I was first elected when I was 25 – 37 years ago – and all in, between my provincial and municipal positions, it’s 30 years that I’ve been a politician,” Mr. Peters said in an interview on Tuesday, hours before announcing his resignation. “Almost half my life I’ve been in politics, and the time right now is right. I thought about waiting until the next election (in November 2026), but it was eating at me and telling me now is the time to go.”

Cr. Peters was first elected to City council in 1988. Three years later, he was elected mayor, serving from 1991 to 1999, the youngest mayor in Canada, before resigning to run provincially as the Liberal Party candidate for Elgin-Middlesex-London.

He was the riding’s MPP from 1999-2011, and in that time, served as Minister of Agriculture and Food, and Minister of Labour, before his election as Speaker of the Ontario Legislature from 2007 to 2011.

For more details, see the Oct. 15 edition of The Aylmer Express. (AE/Joe Konecny)