Peter Hunt

On July 13, 2023, Peter Roberts Hunt, of Ottawa, Ontario died peacefully in his sleep.  He leaves behind him good friends, a loving family and a little-known legacy as one of Canada’s most accomplished and respected intelligence officers of the Cold War.

Peter was born on November 6, 1930 in Victoria, BC to Aileen and Oliver Hunt.  Peter attended Glen Lyon School for Boys in Oak Bay Victoria and went on to earn Bachelor and Masters degrees in History from UVic and UBC respectively.  He married Jacqueline Sawyer in 1951 and they moved to Ottawa in 1953.

Recruited straight out of university in 1953, Peter worked his entire career for the Communications Branch of the National Research Council (CBNRC), then Communications Security Establishment (CSE) a top secret government agency responsible for signals intelligence and communications security.

Recognized early in his time with CSE as having strong potential leadership material, Peter was posted to Washington in 1967 as the Liaison Officer to the National Security Agency, CSE’s American counterpart.  This put him in a key position to become familiar with operations and programs that would, when adopted, make CSE a more effective partner in the AUSCANZUKUS (5 Eyes) Alliance and more directly valuable operation to Canada.  When Peter returned to Canada in the summer of 1972, he was equipped with a vision of the role that CSE could play for Canada and in the alliance.  When he was named Chief in 1980, CSE went through significant program renewals including a major renaissance in the area of cryptanalysis and intelligence delivery.

Peter and Jacquie had separated in 1978 and Peter remarried in December of 1980, to Stella Fisher who he had met through good friends in England. Stella was a wonderful partner, cook and entertainer who made Peter’s life easier as Chief.

Peter retired from CSE in June of 1989, just months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. In recognition of his important contributions to the 5 Eyes Alliance and to the Cold War effort in general, the Americans awarded him with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, one of the highest military honours that can be given to a foreigner.

Peter and Stella continued to live in Skyridge in the Gatineau until the challenges of living in the country became too great and they moved to Governors Walk retirement home in Ottawa in 2013.   Five years later, Peter moved alone to the Garry J Armstrong Retirement home where he could receive special care.  The staff there took wonderful care of him, making his last years very happy ones. Stella passed away in December 2021.

When he wasn’t saving the world from Communism, Peter enjoyed gardening, reading, listening to classical music, doing photography, playing poker and board games and drinking very strong gin and tonics or a nice glass of wine.  He was a great entertainer and took devilish pleasure in cooking up enormous feasts of Indian food and watching as his guests squirmed in pain after they had taken large mouthfuls of his extra hot chicken vindaloo, which he would intentionally hide amongst much milder dishes.

Peter’s family life was a happy one, except for the tragic loss of his beloved daughter Julie, who in 2009 was struck by a car and killed while she was jogging. Peter is survived by his daughter Stephanie, son Kevin and his grandchildren Emma, Lucy, Nicholas and Lucas.