and agitated to have the body directly elected by the people. He won election to the body in the first citywide election in 1904, the first and only person of colour to win a citywide election in Toronto's history. Hubbard topped the polls in the election to the Board in 1906; as vice-chairman of the board, he served as acting mayor on occasions when the mayor was absent. He was re-elected in 1907 but defeated in 1908, and again in the 1909 and 1910 municipal elections. Despite being a city official, Hubbard needed to obtain a letter from Mayor Emerson Coatsworth vouching for his character when travelling to Washington, D.C. for a business meeting in 1906. Hubbard gained passage of almost 100 initiatives in his years on council. He advocated improved waterworks and opposed its privatization, sought roads, and the authority to enact local improvement bylaws. He also fought for the creation of High Park. He also opposed various forms of discrimination. In 1896, he defended the small Chinese community against unfair taxes meant to discourage Chinese-operated hand laundries. He also presented a petition to City Council calling for an end to "attacks on the Jewish religion" by anti-Semitic street preachers. Hubbard joined with Sir Adam Beck to advocate a publicly owned hydroelectricity utility system in the province and led efforts to create the publicly owned Toronto Hydro-Electric System. He was opposed in this campaign by some businessmen who wanted a private system, leading to his defeat in 1908, his first loss at the polls in 24 years. He was appointed justice of the peace for York County in May 1908. Hubbard returned to city council in the 1913 election, this time representing Ward 1 which included the Riverdale neighbourhood. He retired at the end of his one-year term due to his wife's ill health. Hubbard served on the board of the Toronto House of Industry, an institution which provided relief for the poor, for four decades. Retirement and death Hubbard retired to the Riverdale area of the city, building a home on Broadview Avenue near Danforth Avenue. He lived there until his death from a stroke at the age of 93. Coincidentally the alderman, dubbed the Grand Old Man by Toronto press in his political days, and serving well into his 90s, was quite literally the oldest man in the city for a short period before his death. Flags