He was previously deputy minister of municipal affairs and public welfare in Ontario (1937-1941) and later a business owner.
He returned to Canada in 1935 to open a business handling claims from municipalities that had defaulted due to the Great Depression.
[1][2][3] Horton left the provincial civil service in 1941 to join the federal government's Wartime Prices and Trade Board in Ottawa as director of the textiles division.
[6][7] Horton returned to politics in 1966, running for Mayor of Etobicoke, his term beginning January 1967.
[8][9] He ran for re-election in 1969 and was almost defeated by Dennis Flynn following campaign where he accused Horton of supporting high rise development in the borough without consulting voters.