Background
Hay was born in Listowel, Canada West, the son of William G. Hay.
Hay was born in Listowel, Canada West, the son of William G. Hay.
He worked for the Federal Bank for three years before entering the family grain business. He was mayor of Listowel from 1903 to 1904. He served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in the provincial legislature from 1921 to 1923 but resigned after the one election campaign he led the party through saw the Liberals drop in representation from 27 to 14 seats.
In 1926 he was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party but did not run for re-election in 1930.