Peter Fenton (politician)

Peter Fenton (May 12, 1886 – October 5, 1953) was a Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Sudbury, Ontario from 1930 to 1932. He was the 17th mayor of Sudbury since its incorporation in 1893, and the first mayor of Sudbury after it was granted city status in 1930.[1][2] On November 27, 1929 he was acclaimed mayor of the city due to the lack of candidates running for office in the 1929 election. In 1930 he stood again for mayor. During the election campaign he promised to build a new town hall and a subway under the Elm Street rail line, along with improving the local utilities in conjunction with municipal services. His campaign slogan was "Sudbury is a progressive city; we should be optimists and boasters, not pessimists and knockers".[3]

Fenton was widely regarded as a populist mayor and a worthy political opponent. On December 1, 1930, he won the election with 1,373 votes, the largest win in a municipal election in Sudbury at that time.[3]

He was successful at incorporating the city and building the Sudbury Jail, and did the best he could to enable the City of Sudbury to provide relief to citizens affected by the Great Depression.[3] He converted the former jail into a flop house, and was able to provide relief to 4,142 recipients in December 1930. However, in an effort to encourage the recipients to "find work", meals were gradually cut back from three meals to one meal per day by March 1931.[3]

Despite his attempts at advocating for the impoverished citizens of Sudbury, his spending and confrontational style eventually thrust him out of office amid some controversy. Known for unilaterally making decisions on council and running a deficit, he was defeated in 1932 by W. Marr Brodie. Brodie was successful at demanding stricter practices in administering the city's welfare programs, the issue which cost Fenton the election.[3] The ballots cast were 3,138 to 1,591, a clear margin of victory for Brodie.[3]