Arthur Sturgis Hardy, QC (December 14, 1837 – June 13, 1901) was a Canadian lawyer and Liberal politician who served as the fourth premier of Ontario from 1896 to 1899.

Initially reluctant to accept the positions, he said: you know how very difficult it is in this wicked world to let high honours pass.Aware of his weakness, he relied heavily on his minister of education, George William Ross.

Because there were Liberal governments in both Ottawa and Ontario, Hardy was urged to reassure French-speaking Catholics' concerns over the Manitoba Schools Question by appointing François-Eugène-Alfred Évanturel as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

In the 1898 election, Hardy's government was returned with a narrow six seat majority due to the collapse of the agrarian Patrons of Industry party which had served as the Liberal's allies in the legislature, as well as the rise of Catholic and urban support for the Conservatives under James Pliny Whitney.

[1] Michigan lumbermen sought to have the amendment disallowed for encroaching on the federal trade and commerce power, but Wilfrid Laurier's government refused to do so.