Over almost a half-century, ‘Hurricane Hazel’ McCallion transformed Mississauga from a collection of rural townships into one of Canada’s most populous cities.
Long before women were welcome in Canadian politics, Hazel McCallion shoved her way onto the national stage as one of Canada’s most popular mayors — feared and revered by leaders at every level.
“There isn’t a single person who met Hazel who didn’t leave in awe of her force of personality,” Ford said. ”Her city, and our province, are better places because of the amazing life of Hazel McCallion. Rest easy, my friend.” Hazel Journeaux was born in the tiny waterfront village of Port Daniel on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula in 1921 to parents Herbert, owner of a fish processing plant, and Amanda, a nurse. She was the youngest of five children.
She met husband Sam McCallion, a printer and photographer, at St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in Toronto, where they married in 1951. The experience was burned into her legendary memory. Reflecting on her political career shortly before it ended, she said, “Women have to work harder; there’s no question about it. When I ran as deputy reeve of Streetsville in 1967, the women worked against me. They couldn’t understand how a woman would want to get into a man’s world, because the mayor and all the members of council were men.
Calmly leading her city after the Canadian Pacific derailment at Mavis Road sent fireballs high in the sky, McCallion visited evacuation centres and worked with police, fire and provincial officials. After Searle made a failed comeback attempt in 1982, McCallion was considered unbeatable and never faced a serious election threat until leaving the mayor’s chair. Instead of seeking campaign donations, she urged supporters to donate to charity and was re-elected by huge margins.
She also faced criticism that short-sighted tax freezes cost her city revenues that could have built urban services and amenities for the flood of new residents. But in 2009 McCallion’s own council called a judicial inquiry into her involvement in a $1.6-billion hotel and convention centre application that involved her son Peter.
McCallion was not removed from office because she did not violate the narrow scope of Ontario’s conflict of interest law, and later survived another challenge that targeted her votes on the project at city council.Her legendary popularity began to slip. She would not contest another election. She added: “I don’t know of any city that hasn’t started with sprawl … The decision-makers and the developers and the builders, even if they want to build something of their own desire, if they can’t sell it, it won’t be occupied.
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