Against All Odds: The Story of William Peyton Hubbard, Black Leader and Municipal Reformer

Virginia Gillham is Associate Librarian in the Public Service Library at
the University of Guelph.

William Peyton Hubbard was the first major black politician in Canada. As an alderman, a controller, and for a time acting mayor of the City of Toronto, he was elected to office no fewer than fifteen times between 1894 and 1914. Hubbard was an outspoken reformer, and a strong believer in public ownership; a clear-headed moral ethical thinker for whom the welfare and well-being of the citizens of Toronto appear to have been paramount.

Hubbard was an exceptionally able individual whose many accomplishments were all the more amazing in light of the rampant discrimination still encountered by most blacks during the period of his career. It is interesting to note that he conducted his entire career without reference to his colour, and the press and his colleagues appear to have followed suit, only rarely referring to his race or ancestry. His story is riveting and definitely worth telling. It is deserving of a more competent biography than this one.

While reference is made to an editor in the author’s foreword, one cannot help wondering what role she played, at what stage, in the development of this book. The writing, while articulate in spots, suffers from periodic lapses into questionable phrasing and literary style, and, even more irritating, a frequently wandering, disorganized construction of the narrative. In addition, the finished manuscript appears to have been created using an inexpensive version of desk-top publishing, without benefit of proof-reading. Amateurish typographical errors are numerous, and at least one illustration is incorrectly captioned.

The lamentable, low-budget approach which appears to have been taken to the creation of this book implies that the publisher feels the subject is worthy of no better. This is an unfortunate decision perhaps illustrative of the mentality which causes Canadian folk heroes to pale in comparison with those of other countries.

This book should be included in Canadian library collections because it contributes a missing piece to turn-of-the-century Ontario history. The story itself would be worth retelling.