Ninety-three-year old Austin Hunt of Manitoulin Island was presented with his Order of Canada medal by Governor General, Julie Payette, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa yesterday morning.
With the honour, also comes the title of being Canada’s longest-serving elected official in Canada as Mayor of Billings Township (Kagawong).
He is the same age at which Hazel McCallion, his closest rival for political longevity, retired as Mississauga mayor in 2014.
But, while both served into their ninth decades, Hunt started his career earlier, way back in 1953 as a campaign manager for former Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson.