Robert J. Hamilton

Hamilton was elected in November 2003, defeating incumbent Jim Perri. Prior to entering municipal politics, he ran for the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate of the Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election.

Hamilton's focus as mayor was economic development, with a specific objective of attracting higher paying jobs to the city as an alternative for the city's many commuters (local residents who travel daily to Toronto, Ontario for higher-paying jobs). His most notable success in this regard was the decision by the Bank of Montreal to relocate its Canadian Operations Centre to Barrie.^{[citation needed]}

Hamilton also reached out to the film and television production industry, and Barrie was selected as the location for the ongoing production of YTV's Monster Warriors television program. Hamilton made a brief cameo appearance in the program's debut episode.

Hamilton was defeated by Dave Aspden in the 2006 municipal election,^[2] and was succeeded by Aspden in early December.

In 2009, Hamilton decided to run for a new term as mayor of Barrie with hopes of succeeding Mayor Dave Aspden. Barrie city councilor Jeff Lehman was elected instead on October 25, 2010, with Hamilton receiving 14% of the votes.