Former longtime mayor of Mississauga Hazel McCallion dies at 101

Word of McCallion’s death came in a Sunday morning statement from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said she died peacefully at her home in Mississauga earlier in the day at the age of 101.

Here is a little history of Hazel McCallion over the years.

Born Hazel Journeaux in Port Daniel, Que., in 1921, her father owned a fishing and canning company. Her mother was a homemaker and ran the family farm.

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After high school, she attended business secretarial school in Quebec City and Montreal. After working there for a time, she was transferred by Canadian Kellogg company to Toronto.

She met and married her husband, Sam McCallion, and they had three children: Peter, Paul and Linda. In 1997, Sam McCallion died of Alzheimer’s disease.

A former professional women’s hockey player in Montreal in the 1930s, McCallion was known to keep a pair of skates and a hockey stick in the trunk of her car in case of a pick-up game.

Her political career began in 1967 when she was elected chairman of the planning board in Streetsville, part of Mississauga.

Back when she was a rookie mayor back in the late 70s, McCallion cemented her hard-working reputation after she injured her ankle while helping evacuate 200,000 residents from their homes after a train derailed and leaked chlorine gas. She continued to hobble to update briefings despite the sprain.

As mayor, McCallion used lower taxes to attract businesses from the city’s more pricey neighbour, Toronto, creating jobs and helping the city grow.

Mississauga is now the third largest city in Ontario and the sixth largest in Canada, with a population of more than 700,000 as of 2021.

In 2016, Ontario proclaimed McCallion’s birthday, Feb. 14, as Hazel McCallion Day.

 

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