La Semaine
by Annie Lessard Photo: Christy Guntner
June 2, 2011

The Singing President

Colin Hunter, founder and chairman of the board of Sunwing, an airline company and one of the largest package tour operators in Canada worth several hundred million dollars, divides his time between his two passions: The travel industry and his singing career. He now has five albums to his credit. An interview with a businessman who dreamed of being an artist….and became one.

“Today, I would choose music”

La Semaine: Mr Hunter, what makes you most anxious: Presiding over a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars that employs several thousand people or taking center stage to perform? 
Colin Hunter: I’ve never really asked myself that question. They are two very different worlds. Music gives me happiness, immense pleasure, but my work stimulates my brain cells.
LS: When did you start singing?
C.H.: My mother told me that as soon as I was old enough to talk I started to sing.
LS: Who were your favourite singers?
C.H.: I loved crooners like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett.
LS: When you were very young, did you ever want to become a singer?
C.H.: Maybe I did. But I was busy studying economics, dating girls, playing hockey and boxing.
LS: Do you speak French?
C.H.: I learned French in India, in school. But sadly I forgot everything.
LS: Tell us a little about how you got here; what led you from India to Canada.
C.H.: I was born in India. I grew up there. Then, in 1960, I left to study in England. I was there for 10 years, studying and working. When I was younger, I worked three jobs at the same time: I worked at British Airways by day, they I hurried to attend night classes and after that, I rushed to get to my bartending job. And then of course, I had to take care of my love life! (Laughs)
LS: I guess you didn’t sleep much?
C.H.: I slept four hours. My mother would wake me up every morning at 7:00 am, no matter how late I got home.  
LS: Obviously you weren’t afraid of hard work!
C.H.: When I hear people talk about having two jobs, I ask myself “why not three?” (Laughs)
LS: When did you come to Canada?
C.H.: I settled in Toronto in 1970. I founded Sunwing in 2005 after co-founding a company by the name of Canada 3000. Sunwing generated $17 million in sales in the first year; today, the company generates nearly 1.5 billion dollars.
LS: I’ve heard that your wife is mostly responsible for your taking the stage to realize your dream of performing in front of an audience. Is this true?
C.H.: In fact, when my wife Joan and I would vacation on cruise ships, she would speak with the people in charge of performances and tell them “You know, my husband sings.” On one of these cruises, they eventually invited me to sing. Well, my wife lost me for the rest of that cruise. Once I had a microphone in my hands, it took up all of my free time!
LS: What are your fondest memories about how you started?
C.H.: It certainly has to be a birthday party organized by my wife in which she invited some jazz musicians I knew. I was on my way to a hotel to celebrate my birthday and I met them in the elevator. I asked them what they were doing there. They told me that they were performing for a birthday party. And I told them that I too was there for a birthday party. I later realized that my wife hired them to perform at MY birthday party. I ended up singing on stage with the band the whole evening. I performed for my own birthday party, it was great.
LS: How many children do you have?
C.H.: I have four children and six grandchildren. Two of my sons work with me at Sunwing; Mathew, who is in his early thirties, has been with me for about 10 years. As for Stephen, he is in his early forties and has been working in several of my businesses since he was 17. He is currently running the business. He’s a younger version of me… but better looking. (Laughs)
LS: What would you choose today if you were asked to absolutely and unequivocally choose between running your airline company and pursuing your singing career?
C.H.: (Long seconds pass as he thinks about the question.)
Today, I would choose music. You know, just a few years ago, I probably wouldn’t have chosen music. I had obligations to my family. I’m not the type of person who can make this decision without worrying about how it would affect the people around me. Now, my children are grown. I consider myself very lucky to be able to say that if I had to make this choice, I would choose music. 
LS: What are your dreams in terms of music?
C.H.: I don’t have any dreams. Instead, I believe in having goals. I have been lucky in my life. I was able to make two dreams come true: Business and performing…
LS: You call that luck?
C.H.: It’s a combination of timing and luck. I landed in Canada at just the right time, I entered the travel industry at the right time, and I founded my first airline company at the right time. In January 2010, we joined the world’s largest travel group, TUI. 
At this very moment, Sam Char, Sunwing’s chief executive officer and Mr Hunter’s right hand man in Quebec, interrupts the conversation to say what he believes is important in the fact that he does not agree to all Mr Hunter’s statement. Mr Char tells me that he has been observing Colin Hunter and has learned a lot about how Mr Hunter creates opportunities and doesn’t wait for things to happen, about his abilities as a businessman but also his values as a human being. Mr Char believes that Colin is too humble when talking about the reasons for his success.
LS: Is there one particular venue where you would love to perform?
C.H.: Yes. There’s this Roman amphitheatre in the Dominican Republic where Frank Sinatra performed in 1981 in front of 7,500 people. The theatre is in the same area where part of the movie Apocalypse Now was filmed. I intend to perform there some day.

Performing at the Maison du jazz at 9:00 pm, June 24 and 25.
(2060, Aylmer street, Montréal, McGill metro station,www.maisondujazz.ca).
Mr Hunter will be accompanied by Joe Sealy on the piano and a quartet.