 She then went on to become the Vancouver Island Coordinator for OXFAM Canada, work which included a fact finding trip to Sudan and Eritrea in 1986 to assess the effects of the war and famine in that region.Hunter became a New Democratic Party member of Parliament after winning the Saanich—Gulf Islands electoral district in the 1988 federal election.She served on a number of Parliamentary Committees in the 34th Canadian Parliament including the Environment Committee, two separate committees on the Canadian Constitution and was a frequent contributor to the External Affairs Committee but lost to Jack Frazer of the Reform Party in the 1993 federal election.