Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion dies at 101 | 24CA News
Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion has died on the age of 101.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford introduced her passing in an announcement early on Sunday morning, calling her the “true definition of a public servant.”
McCallion was the Mayor of Mississauga for 36 years, overseeing its transformation from a suburb into one of many nation’s largest cities.
Among a slew of different accolades and accomplishments, the Quebec-born powerhouse performed skilled ladies’s hockey in Montreal, began a well being program for African youngsters affected by HIV/AIDS, was runner-up for World Mayor in 2005 and inducted into the Order of Canada.
Amid all of those achievements, she additionally discovered time to boost three youngsters and run the burgeoning metropolis of Mississauga for greater than three a long time, with out interruption.
The metropolis remained debt-free for the whole lot of her tenure.
Bonnie Crombie, McCallion’s successor as mayor, stated town had misplaced its “matriarch.”
“She lived a life of service before self — everything she did was for the betterment of our city,” Crombie stated in a tweet. “My deepest condolences to the McCallion family.”
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Crombie, like many public figures in Ontario, recurrently referenced the recommendation she acquired from McCallion.
“I will miss Hazel, not only as a mentor but as a friend,” she stated in an announcement. “She was the driving force behind my decision to put my name on the ballot to succeed her as Mayor of this great city. I wouldn’t be the leader I am today if it wasn’t for her support and sage advice.”
Ford has additionally been open about looking for knowledge from McCallion.
“As I entered the world of politics, I was fortunate enough to learn from her wisdom and guidance, which she selflessly offered until the very end,” he stated.
Ontario PC chief Doug Ford is congratulated by former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion after successful a majority authorities within the Ontario Provincial election in Toronto, on Thursday, June 7, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch
Despite retiring from her place as mayor in 2014, McCallion continued to be a significant a part of public life in each Mississauga and Ontario.
She sat on the Greater Toronto Airports Authority board of administrators and was, comparatively just lately, appointed as chair of the Greenbelt council.
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McCallion was born in a farmhouse in Port Daniel, rural Quebec, on Valentine’s Day 1921.
Her father ran a fish processing plant and normal retailer, whereas her mom was in command of the house and the farm. In her biography — Hurricane Hazel: A Life With Purpose — McCallion stated she ate fish not less than 5 instances per week rising up.
She was the youngest of 5 youngsters, and after graduating from highschool made her method westward, attending business secretarial faculty in Quebec City after which in Montreal.
A two-decade stint within the personal sector adopted. McCallion was employed out of faculty by the Kellogg Company, a building agency, and was finally transferred to Toronto in 1942 to assist arrange the corporate’s native workplace.
A decade later, in 1951, she would meet her husband, Sam McCallion, at an Anglican church in Toronto. The two married inside a yr, then moved to Streetsville, a city that was finally amalgamated with two different small communities to kind town of Mississauga.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau bows to Hazel McCallion, left, as he attends “She The North” rally for Canadian tennis champion, Bianca Andreescu in Mississauga, Ont., on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
McCallion left the Kellogg Company in 1967 to commit herself to political life, and inside three years she had been elected mayor of Streetsville. She served in that place from 1970 to 1973. After the amalgamation of 1974, she sat on the brand new metropolis council for 4 extra years.
Then, in 1978, she was elected mayor of Mississauga for the primary time, a victory McCallion accredited to at least one main misstep by the incumbent mayor, Ron Searle.
McCallion finally determined to bow out of politics at age 93, leaving the mayor’s workplace 36 years after she was first elected. On her eightieth birthday she attributed “toughness” from her rural upbringing within the Gaspe, Que., area to her longevity and political success.
“You’ve got to stand up for what you believe in, which I always have,” McCallion stated on the time.
Known affectionately as “Hurricane Hazel,” Mississauga’s longest-serving mayor was an outspoken political powerhouse.
She garnered greater than 90 per cent of the mayoral vote a number of phrases in a row regardless of not campaigning for many years, as a substitute asking those that wished to make a donation to her marketing campaign to as a substitute give the cash to a charity or a cultural fund.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie (proper) sits alongside former Mayor Hazel McCallion as they attend an announcement attends an announcement at Mississauga Hospital in Mississauga, Ont., on Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
In his assertion, Ford pointed to the various components of Mississauga that bear her title. The metropolis’s central library was just lately renamed in her honour, whereas a lightweight rail route being constructed alongside Hurontario Street can even carry her title.
“There isn’t a single person who met Hazel who didn’t leave in awe of her force of personality,” the premier stated. “I count myself incredibly lucky to have called Hazel my friend over these past many years.”
— with recordsdata from The Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
