Harry William Hunt (September 14, 1883 – June 10, 1966) was a businessman who was an alderman on

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...

in the 1920s and 1930s and twice ran for

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the Municipal government of Toronto, municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; t ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. Hunt was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

in 1883 and was a factory worker and loan company inspector until opening his own store in 1912. The business became the Hunt Candy Company, a

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

manufacturer and retail chain, and later Hunt's Ltd. He also owned the Savarin Tavern. He was first elected alderman for Ward 3 in Toronto's downtown in the 1922 Toronto municipal election. He was defeated in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

but returned to office in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and continued as the ward's alderman for until he ran for mayor in 1935. Hunt had earlier announced his candidacy for mayor for the 1931 election but withdrew his nomination in favour of

William James Stewart William James Stewart (February 13, 1889 – September 28, 1969) was a Canadians, Canadian politician. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada. Stewart also owned and operated the Bates and Dodds Funeral Home on Queen Street West ...

. A Conservative, he was endorsed for the 1935 election by all of Toronto's newspapers except for the ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division. The newspaper was establis ...

'' which endorsed socialist James Simpson who was supported by the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

and defeated Hunt by 3,500 votes. Liberal-aligned J. George Ramsden came third. During the election campaign, Hunt warned that the election of a CCF mayor would be a "tragedy" for the city. Hunt ran again the following year losing to former mayor Sam McBride, with Simpson coming in third place. Hunt attributed his loss to the "Protestant forces" being divided between himself and Mayor Simpson (who, though a socialist, was also vocally

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

), while the "Catholic vote" supported McBride. When he died in 1966, he left an estate of over half-a-million dollars.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Harry Toronto city councillors Businesspeople from Hamilton, Ontario Confectioners Businesspeople from Toronto 1883 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors