Vince Kerrio

Vince George Kerrio (born February 5, 1924 in Niagara Falls, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1975 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.

Kerrio's grandfather, also named Vincent, emigrated from Italy to Canada at the start of the twentieth century. Kerrio was educated at Niagara Falls College, and was the owner of the engineering business Kerrio Ltd. before entering political life. He was also the president of the Niagara Falls Curling Club.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative John Clement by 172 votes in the Niagara Falls constituency. He was re-elected by greater margins in the elections of 1977 and 1981.

The Ontario Liberal Party, which had been out of office since 1943, formed a minority government after the 1985 provincial election. Kerrio, easily returned in Niagara Falls, was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Energy on June 26, 1985. He was retained in the former portfolio after the 1987 provincial election. In 1988, Kerrio prohibited mineral exploration and mining activities in Ontario provincial parks. He also banned large-scale water exports from Ontario in 1989.

In 1988, Kerrio approved the expansion of the Red Squirrel logging road, directly through Anishnabe territory in Temagami, Ontario, Canada. This prompted a series of roadblocks by the Teme-Augama Anishnabai and by environmentalists in 1988-1989.

Kerrio left cabinet on August 2, 1989, and did not run for re-election in 1990.

Kerrio was the first Italian-Canadian to serve as a cabinet minister in Ontario. He remains a leading figure in Niagara Falls's Italian community. In addition to Kerrio Ltd., his family now runs Car-Mar Manufacturing and Niagara Hospitality Inns.

His son, Vincent Anthony Kerrio, is a municipal politician in Niagara Falls.