Hazel McCallion, CM (born February 14, 1921) is the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada's sixth largest city. McCallion has been Mississauga's mayor since 1978.
Personal
Hazel McCallion was born in Port Daniel on the Gaspé Coast of Quebec. Her father owned a fishing and canning company. Her mother was a homemaker and ran the family farm. After high school she attended business secretarial school in Quebec City and Montreal. She has stated, especially while receiving university honours, that she would have wanted to attend university, but financially her family could not afford it. After working in Montreal, she was transferred by Canadian Kellogg company to Toronto. She met and married her husband, Sam McCallion, soon after in an Anglican Church congregation. As a marriage present from McCallions’ in-laws, a piece of land in what would later become Mississauga, near the village of Streetsville, was given to the newlyweds. She has two sons, Peter and Paul, one daughter Linda and a granddaughter Erika. McCallion has often stated, such as on TV Ontario's Studio 2, that her husband was always encouraging and supportive of her political career. Prior to becoming Mayor, Hazel and her husband founded The Mississauga Booster community newspaper, a paper that her son now edits and publishes. The explicit editorial policy of the Booster has always been to only publish 'positive' news about the city. In 1997, Sam McCallion died of Alzheimers Disease. The Sam McCallion Day Centre was created by the Alzheimer Society of Peel to honour Sam, the founder of the annual Streetsville Bread and Honey Festival. The Mayor is well known in Canada for her love of hockey, a game she still plays recreationally. In fact, she played for a professional women's team while attending school in Montreal. She still resides in Streetsville.
Political Career
McCallion began her political career in Streetsville, Ontario, a village which has since merged into the city of Mississauga. Beginning as the chairman of the Streetsville Planning Board in 1967, she later became deputy reeve of Streetsville and was appointed reeve soon after. She was elected as Streetsville's mayor in 1970, serving until 1973. By the time she was elected mayor of Mississauga, she had sat on virtually every committee at the Peel Region and the city of Mississauga. She has also served on the executive of many federal and provincial committees and associations.
She was first elected Mayor in 1978 narrowly defeating the popular incumbant Ron Searle. McCallion had been in office only a few months when a public health and safety crisis threatened. On November 10th, 1979, a Canadian Pacific train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in a heavily populated area of Mississauga near Mavis Road. A large explosion and fire ensued as hazardous chemicals spilled. McCallion, along with the Peel Regional Police and other governmental authorities, oversaw an orderly and peaceful evacuation of the entire city. There was no loss of life or serious injuries during the week-long emergency and Mississauga gained international notoriety for the peaceful evacuation of its 200,000 residents. In 1982, McCallion was found guilty of a conflict of interest on a planning decision by the Ontario High Court of Justice due to not absenting herself from a council meeting discussing a matter in which she had an interest. However, it was found to be a bona fide error of judgment and she was not required to vacate her seat.
McCallion has overseen the growth of Mississauga from a small collection of towns and villages to one of Canada’s largest cities. She has faced challenges few mayors do, for the dynamic growth of the Toronto area after the 1976 election of René Lévesque' Parti Quebecois government sparked an exodus of Anglophones and corporations from Montreal to Toronto. As Toronto grew in national standing, Mississauga politicians worked to define their community beyond a bedroom community of Toronto. Today, Mississauga is home to a mix of commercial, residential, industrial, and recreational areas. According to Canadian Relocation Systems, "Mississauga [has] 9,730 businesses, widely diversified in manufacturing, distribution and business services. As well, there are approximately 9,000 retail businesses." McCallion governments spearheaded the development of a 'downtown' Mississauga area. The building of the shopping centre Square One in the Hurontario and Burnmanthorpe Road section of the city during the 1970s has evolved into a centre of commercial and recreational activity. The Civic Centre, including a new city hall, Central Library, and Mississauga Living Arts Centre, along with a Mississauga Transit terminal and shopping and entertainment options now populate the former fallow farm land. This city centre helped unite residents of the different towns that made up Mississauga without destroying the smaller villages. The construction of Highway 403 in the 1980s eased access to this area of the city. In the 1990s, the Hershey Centre, a hockey arena and concert venue, was built near Matheson and Tomken Road facilitating the creation of the Ontario Hockey League's expansion team Mississauga Ice Dogs.
McCallion has failed to achieve many goals. She has not been successful in withdrawing Mississauga from regional government. Missisauga is a partner with Brampton and Caledon in Peel Region. McCallion argues that Mississauga residents unfairly fund the smaller communities through regional government, but successive Ontario provincial governments have not permitted Mississauga to withdraw. Her failure to collect the taxes due the City of Mississauga when the Federal government appropriated land for Terminal 3 of Lester B. Pearson International Airport cost the city millions. Gridlock, a term used in the Greater Toronto Area to refer to daily commuter traffic entering and leaving Toronto continues to plague Mississauga, its people and environment. Other issues affecting residents, such as a lack of affordable housing—a municipal responsibility of Peel Region—have not been sufficiently addressed. Currently, residents who are qualified to receive social housing must wait many years before units are made available.
Political Ideology
As an abiding character of Canadian politics, The Constitution Act, (formerly British North America Act) 1867 divides power (sec.91, 92) between federal and provincial governments. Each government is ascribed specific areas of concern, but no hierarchy of power is articulated. Municipalities have no such constitutional status and are legally created by their respective Provincial legislature. However, issues of federal concern may also impact cities. Thus a civic politician is rarely aligned with a political party, for they need to work closely with higher levels of government to achieve specific goals for their constituency. Mayor McCallion has worked with a variety of federal and provincial governments, and has not expressed a consistent party preference, preferring to work constructively with each elected official. Her principles are grounded in the belief that a city should be run like a business; thus, she encourages the business model of governance. Her family's business background, her education and prior career in a corporation prepared her to approach government with a business model. Although McCallion was one of the first females to hold political power in Canada, it is difficult to categorize her as a feminist. She is able to express support for female equality in Canada, and internationally, without being typecast ideologically. She was chosen one of the "American Women of the Year" in Who's Who of American Women, as well as "Women of the Year 2001" by an international business lobby. [1]. Her Christian faith also contributes to her concern for the public good. A member of Trinity Anglican Church in Streetsville, her charitable work now includes Hazel's Hope, a campaign to fund health care for children afflicted with AIDS and HIV in southern Africa. Accordingly, she has been lauded as "an international ambassador for the city and a world citizen" by World Mayor, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization advancing the concerns of cities internationally.
Honours
She is one of Canada's best known and longest serving mayors. At the age of 82, she was easily re-elected in November 2003 for her 10th consecutive term. Mississauga is one of the few cities in Canada that is debt-free, and it has not had to borrow money since 1978 (it was incorporated in 1974).
In 2005, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and ranked second in the international World Mayor poll, behind only Dora Bakoyannis of Athens. The University of Toronto at Mississauga has named their new library and academic skills centre after McCallion, in appreciation for the support offered the campus in its growth and development. The Peel Board of Education has named a junior high school after her as well.