Robert Hood Saunders

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Robert Hood Saunders, Q.C.,CBE (May 30, 1903 - January 15, 1955) was mayor of Toronto from 1945 to 1948, President of the Canadian National Exhibition, chairman of the Ontario Hydro (formally named the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario (HEPCO)).

As mayor he was nicknamed "Grassroots Bob," for his down to earth style. A native of Toronto, he was a champion of the Toronto subway and fought to remove slums. In 1946 Saunders was inspired by an elementary school traffic safety program in Detroit. Saunders worked to start a program in Toronto, and the end result was Elmer the Safety Elephant program.

After his terms as mayor he became chairman of the Ontario Hydro commission in February of 1948. One of his mandates was developing Ontario's waterpower resources, especially on the St. Lawrence Seaway. It was on a business trip as Hydro Chairman he lost his life in a plane crash On January 14th, 1955 a plane carrying the chairman left Windsor Ontario. On approach to London Ontario, the plane crashed. The 53-year-old Saunders died as a result of the injuries he sustained. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

On his death, Frederick Gardiner, QC, Chairman of the Metropolitan Council, had this to say:

"Newsboy, athlete, successful lawyer, mayor to the city, chairman of Hydro, president of the Exhibition, and the one man most responsible for the St. Lawrence Seaway, Bob Saunder's life was a series of successes which only a man of his dynamic energy and ability could accomplish."

A fitting tribute to Saunders was unveiled by the then Premier Leslie M. Frost of Ontario on September 5, 1958. A St. Lawrence Power Project was named after him (The R.H. Saunders - St. Lawrence Station).

On this occasion, Premier Frost said, "...he was a person of kindness and understanding; a very human being in many capacities and in many ways. His accomplishments were legion...It is a fitting tribute to his memory that the St. Lawrence Power Project be named after him."

[edit] References

Toronto Telegram, January 17, 1955

[edit] External links

• RH Saunder Power Station
• Elmer the Safety Elephant
• Video clip of Elmer the Safety Elephant

[edit] See also

• List of Toronto municipal elections

Political offices
Preceded by Frederick J. Conboy	Mayor of Toronto 1945–1948	Succeeded by Hiram E. McCallum

v • d • e Mayors of Toronto

William Lyon Mackenzie • Robert Baldwin Sullivan • Thomas David Morrison • George Gurnett • John Powell • George Monro • Henry Sherwood • William Henry Boulton • George Gurnett (again) • John George Bowes • Joshua George Beard • George William Allan • John Beverley Robinson • John Hutchison • William Henry Boulton (again) • David Breakenridge Read • Adam Wilson • John George Bowes (again) • Francis Henry Medcalf • James Edward Smith • Samuel Bickerton Harman • Joseph Sheard • Alexander Manning • Francis Henry Medcalf (again) • Angus Morrison • James Beaty • William Barclay McMurrich • Arthur Radcliffe Boswell • Alexander Manning (again) • William Holmes Howland • Edward Frederick Clarke • Robert John Fleming • Warring Kennedy • Robert John Fleming (again) • John Shaw • Ernest A. Macdonald • Oliver Aiken Howland • Thomas Urquhart • Emerson Coatsworth • Joseph Oliver • George Reginald Geary • Horatio Clarence Hocken • Thomas Langton Church • Charles A. Maguire • William W. Hiltz • Thomas Foster • Samuel McBride • Bert Wemp • William James Stewart • James Simpson • Samuel McBride (again) • William D. Robbins • Ralph Day • Frederick J. Conboy • Robert Hood Saunders • Hiram E. McCallum • Allan A. Lamport • Leslie Howard Saunders • Nathan Phillips • Donald Dean Summerville • Philip Givens • William Dennison • David Crombie • Fred Beavis • John Sewell • Art Eggleton • June Rowlands • Barbara Hall • Mel Lastman • David Miller