He led the first on-sea anti-whaling campaigns in the world, against Russian and Australian whalers, which helped lead to the ban on commercial whaling.
Born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Hunter's career in journalism began in the 1960s at the Winnipeg Tribune and the Vancouver Sun, where he focused on the counterculture as well as environmental issues.
In 1975 Robert Hunter led the Greenpeace expedition against the Soviet whaling fleet, along with lifelong friend and activist Paul Watson and Patrick Moore.
[1] Hunter surprised many when he entered politics as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in a 2001 provincial by-election in Beaches—East York.
Hunter's environmentalism had led many to assume that his politics were more in line with the New Democratic Party or the Greens, and he had frequently criticized Liberal politicians in his columns.
In 1991, he won the Governor General's Award for literature for his book Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past.
He also wrote on matters relating to aboriginal rights in Canada and remained in contact with Greenpeace and other environmental groups until his death.