Gordon W. Hunter (born January 20, 1946) was an

Ottawa City Councillor Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

. He represented Knoxdale-Merivale Ward. On January 31, 2010, he announced that he would not be running re-election to city council in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, Hunter was born into a military family and moved frequently during his childhood. He attended

Lakefield College School Lakefield College School (sometimes called LCS, The Grove or simply Lakefield) is a private day and boarding school located north of the village of Lakefield, Ontario. It was the first Canadian member of Round Square, an international affiliatio ...

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, and

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, graduating in 1968. He moved to Nepean in 1968 to become a teacher at Confederation High School, and taught

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

there for thirty-one years until the school closed in 1999. He was also a national champion at

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

. He ran for the federal

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in the 1980 federal election, but lost to Progressive Conservative Walter Baker by more than 12,000 votes. He ran again in the 1984 federal election, and lost by almost 21,000 votes. (This was the election where the Progressive Conservatives swept to power with a majority government.) Hunter entered municipal politics in 1980 when he was elected to the Nepean City Council as well as to the

Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton The Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton was a Regional Municipality and Census Division in Ontario, Canada, that existed between January 1, 1969, and January 1, 2001, and was primarily centred on the City of Ottawa. It was created in 1969 ...

Council. He was easily reelected in every election thereafter:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. During the 1980s when the Non-Smoking Bylaw was on the agenda at the Nepean City Hall (non-smoking areas in restaurants) Garfield Mahood, executive director of Non-Smokers' Rights Association, amongst other health experts, attempted to persuade Hunter to support the bylaw. However, Hunter steadfastly refused to support a non-smoking bylaw. In 1994, as a result of local government reorganization, Hunter moved to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton Council. A Liberal, he ran for the party in the 1999 provincial election in the riding of Nepean—Carleton, but lost to Tory incumbent John Baird. He was, however, regarded as one of the more fiscally conservative councillors. With the creation of the new city of Ottawa, in 2000, Hunter ran to represent the Knoxdale-Merivale ward, and easily won election against an anti-development activist. In the 2003 municipal election, he was re-elected with 84% of the vote. Hunter was opposed to the city's

O-Train The O-Train is a light rail system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system consists of three lines, all of which are fully Grade separation, grade-separated. As of March 2025, one line is currently being extended an ...

light-rail expansion which would have linked Barrhaven South to

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

in 2009, before it was cancelled by City Council on December 14, 2006. Hunter expressed concerns about high costs on the project as well as the ridership. On December 8, 2006, Hunter voted against a plan that would have truncated only the downtown segment of the proposal and later introduced another vote to topple the complete project which failed. On December 14, 2006, after Mayor

Larry O'Brien Lawrence Francis O'Brien Jr. (July 7, 1917September 28, 1990) was an American politician and commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1984. He was one of the United States Democratic Party's leading electoral strat ...

decided to vote against the project, Hunter voted for the cancellation of the project

Gord Hunter was also criticized for the appearance of a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

for having accepted a free corporate box seat at the 2007 Stanley Cup NHL hockey playoff game (Senators v.s. Anaheim Ducks) at Scotiabank Place from Waste Management Services—a company that the City does business with. (Ottawa Sun, June 11, 2007). The City of Ottawa Policy states: "employees must not accept, directly or indirectly, any gifts, hospitality or other benefits that are offered by persons, groups or organizations having dealings with the city." However, other than addressing corruption, the provincial Municipal Act does not prohibit councillors from accepting such gifts. It was revealed in a report of the City of Ottawa's 2007 office budget spending by city councillors that Gord Hunter spent the least. According to the Ottawa Sun (April 1, 2008): "The most frugal on the list is always Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Gord Hunter and 2007 was no exception. Hunter only spent $11,862 of his budget, saving taxpayers more than $24,000."

Election results

Canadian federal election, 1980

; Nepean–Carleton

Canadian federal election, 1984

; Nepean–Carleton

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Municipality elections, 1997

Ontario provincial election, 1999

Ottawa municipal election, 2000

Ottawa municipal election, 2003

Ottawa municipal election, 2006

References

External links

Councillor Gord Hunter - Official Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Gord 1946 births Lakefield College School alumni Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Candidates in the 1980 Canadian federal election Candidates in the 1984 Canadian federal election Living people Ottawa city councillors Ottawa-Carleton regional councillors Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons