Hazel McCallion
Encyclopedia
Hazel McCallion, née Joueneaux, CM
(born February 14, 1921) is the mayor
of Mississauga, Ontario
. McCallion has been Mississauga's mayor for years, holding office since 1978. She is affectionately called "Hurricane Hazel" by supporters as well as the media at large for her vibrant outspoken style of no-nonsense politics.
She is one of Canada's best known and longest-serving mayors and she is one of the longest serving elected leaders in history. Now aged , she was easily re-elected in October 2010 for her 12th consecutive term, holding a 76% majority of the votes, and has often been reelected without even needing to conduct an actual campaign.
She is both a Member of the Order of Canada
and a Member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
.
Coast of Quebec
. Her father Herbert Armand Journeaux (1879–1944) owned a fishing and canning company. Her mother, Maude Travers (1876–1955) was a homemaker and ran the family farm. She had two sisters, Linda Maude Adams (1911–2004), and Margret Gwendolyn Travers Capener (1915–1997) and two brothers, Herbert Lorne Journeaux (1907–1972), and James Wilson Lockhart Journeaux (1909–1964). After graduating from Quebec 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 her future husband, Sam McCallion, (1923–1997) soon after in an Anglican Church congregation in 1951. They would marry on September 29 of the same year. As a marriage present from McCallion’s in-laws, a piece of land in what would later become Mississauga, near the village of Streetsville
was given to the newlyweds. She has three children, Peter, Paul and Linda, daughter-in-law Donna Marie married to Paul, and granddaughter Erika. McCallion has often stated, such as on TVOntario
'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. In 1997, Sam McCallion died of Alzheimer's 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. Hazel still resides in Streetsville.
In a first-person account for Canadian magazine Confidence Bound, McCallion credited her faith with giving her the energy her job demands. "Having a life filled with purpose and meaning and living my life in a Christian-like manner helps to motivate me and keep me energized," she said.
She also revealed that she does everything around the house herself. "I do my own cleaning, grocery shopping, gardening… The assumption is that people in my position have others doing all these things for them but I like to be self sufficient. Housework and gardening are great forms of exercise and keep one humble."
career in Streetsville
, 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. The City of Mississauga came into being in 1974.
By the time she was elected mayor of Mississauga, she had sat on virtually every committee in 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 incumbent Ron A. Searle
. McCallion had been in office only a few months when a public health and safety crisis occurred during the 1979 Mississauga train derailment — on November 10, 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. She sprained her ankle early in the crisis, but continued to hobble to press conferences and update briefings. There was no loss of life or serious injuries during the week-long emergency, and Mississauga gained international renown for the peaceful evacuation of its then 200,000 residents.
McCallion has overseen the growth of Mississauga from a small collection of towns and villages to one of Canada’s largest cities. This dynamic growth of the Toronto area occurred after the 1976 election of René Lévesque
's Parti Québécois
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 a Canadian relocation service, "Mississauga has 9,730 businesses, widely diversified in manufacturing, distribution and business services." As well, there are approximately 9,000 retail businesses." The McCallion government also spearheaded the development of a 'downtown' Mississauga area. The building of the shopping centre Square One
in the Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe 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 IceDogs
.
Some of McCallion's initiatives have been unsuccessful. Under Ontario law, Mississauga is part of Peel Region
, along with Brampton
and Caledon
. McCallion and Mississauga council have asked that their city be made a single tier municipality, but so far that request has been denied by the Ontario government. Mississauga has so far obtained two additional seats on the regional council, which still gives it less representation than its proportionate share by population or by municipal tax base. This has created controversy within the region. Brampton and Caledon politicians argued against McCallion, saying that Mississauga's growth has slowed down and it was the chief beneficiary of Peel's 1970s infrastructure projects.
McCallion has also been unsuccessful in collecting the taxes owed to the City of Mississauga, when the federal government appropriated land for Terminal 3 of Toronto Pearson International Airport
, which has cost the city millions directly. Others argue that it can be considered an investment towards expanding Canada's largest international airport
which benefits Mississauga. Gridlock
on the arterial roads continues to plague Mississauga as in the rest of Peel Region. There are other issues affecting residents, such as a lack of affordable housing—another Peel Region responsibility. Currently, residents who qualify to receive social housing must wait many years before units are made available by Peel Region, which is instead directing the region's $1.2 billion accumulated tax reserves toward the provincial mandate for water treatment expansion and repairs, which must be completed by 2010 to comply with environmental regulations developed as a result of the Walkerton Commission reports.
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 been easily elected for the last twenty years, with no serious challengers coming close to unseating her as mayor of the city. Due to her popularity, she does not campaign during elections and refuses to accept political donations, instead asking her supporters to donate the money to charity. She is now in her twelfth consecutive term as mayor, having won her most recent bid for reelection on October 25, 2010.
She was lauded as a hero in April 2006 during a police standoff involving a distraught man threatening to kill himself. The five hour standoff promptly came to a peaceful end when McCallion appeared on the scene and demanded he stand down so that police, paramedic and fire personnel could attend to more important matters.
In 2009 McCallion was the focus of intense public opinion when it was alleged she failed to disclose her conflict of interest when attending meetings that concerned her son's company, World Class Developments Ltd. On October 3, 2011, Judge Douglas Cunningham found McCallion "acted in a 'real and apparent conflict of interest' while pushing hard for a real estate deal that could have put millions of dollars in her son’s pocket."
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. Mississauga is one of the few cities in Canada that is debt-free; it has not had to borrow money since 1978. However, Mississauga may have to borrow money to build new capital projects in 2012. She has been described as a "small-c" conservative.
Although McCallion is one of the most prominent women now holding political power in Canada, it is difficult to categorize her as a feminist. She is able to express support for women's 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.
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 a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization advancing the concerns of cities internationally.
In 2007, McCallion responded to the federal government's refusal to give one cent of the GST
to the cities, a funding source long requested by many municipalities across Canada, by planning to levy a five per cent surcharge on property tax
es in the city. She was able to have the levy introduced and approved on the same day by Mississauga council, in contrast to Mayor David Miller of Toronto who was unable to get increased tax revenue approved for months. Most media coverage, as well as Toronto mayor David Miller
, noted that McCallion was arguably one of the few mayors in the country with the political capital to implement such a strategy.
McCallion has also expressed pessimism over Miller's 'One-cent now', saying that "I can assure you our citizens [of Mississauga] can’t point out to us where there’s a lot of waste. Toronto, unfortunately, has that situation, in which their citizens are saying it, as well as their board of trade has been saying it and even their own councillors are saying it. If my councillors were saying we were wasting money, I'd be really concerned. I think we give value for tax dollars; we run our city like a business." Toronto councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong
made a comparison; "Hazel McCallion runs a tight ship. David Miller’s ship has leaks all over the place,” and some commentators suggested this allowed Mississauga to make a more credible case to the federal government. She unveiled her own plan known as 'Cities Now!' to get federal funding for municipal infrastructure.
McCallion hosts an annual gala in Mississauga to raise money for arts and culture in the city. Attendees at the 2008 gala, which also marked the 30th anniversary of McCallion's election to the mayoralty of Mississauga, included former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Lincoln Alexander
and American talk show host Regis Philbin
.
in 1983, she argued that Palestinian issues had been distorted by the national media and was quoted as saying, "The Palestinians need and require and deserve a country of their own. Why shouldn't they get it?"
. She played for a professional women's team while attending school in Montreal. One of her friends is Hockey Night in Canada
commentator Don Cherry, who joked during her 87th birthday that while 98 per cent of the city voted for her, he was looking for the remaining 2 per cent that didn't.
McCallion began playing hockey in the late 1920s in the town of Port Daniel, Quebec
. She played with her two sisters and was a forward on their team. McCallion later played hockey for $5 a game in the city of Montreal. The team was sponsored by Kik Cola and it was a three team women’s league. At one time, she was a board member of the Ontario Women's Hockey League, and was instrumental in getting the Hershey Centre
built for the city of Mississauga. McCallion provided assistance for Don Cherry
’s group to bring an Ontario Hockey League franchise to the city in 1998, and she was instrumental in bringing the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships to the city in 2000.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born February 14, 1921) is the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Mississauga, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. McCallion has been Mississauga's mayor for years, holding office since 1978. She is affectionately called "Hurricane Hazel" by supporters as well as the media at large for her vibrant outspoken style of no-nonsense politics.
She is one of Canada's best known and longest-serving mayors and she is one of the longest serving elected leaders in history. Now aged , she was easily re-elected in October 2010 for her 12th consecutive term, holding a 76% majority of the votes, and has often been reelected without even needing to conduct an actual campaign.
She is both a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
and a Member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
.
Personal life
Hazel Joueneaux was born in Port Daniel on the GaspéGaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
Coast of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Her father Herbert Armand Journeaux (1879–1944) owned a fishing and canning company. Her mother, Maude Travers (1876–1955) was a homemaker and ran the family farm. She had two sisters, Linda Maude Adams (1911–2004), and Margret Gwendolyn Travers Capener (1915–1997) and two brothers, Herbert Lorne Journeaux (1907–1972), and James Wilson Lockhart Journeaux (1909–1964). After graduating from Quebec 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
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
company to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
She met her future husband, Sam McCallion, (1923–1997) soon after in an Anglican Church congregation in 1951. They would marry on September 29 of the same year. As a marriage present from McCallion’s in-laws, a piece of land in what would later become Mississauga, near the village of Streetsville
Streetsville, Ontario
Streetsville is an established community located in the northwestern corner of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on the Credit River...
was given to the newlyweds. She has three children, Peter, Paul and Linda, daughter-in-law Donna Marie married to Paul, and granddaughter Erika. McCallion has often stated, such as on TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
's Studio 2
Studio 2
Studio 2 was a daily current affairs newsmagazine on TVOntario in Ontario, Canada. The show won several Gemini Awards, and was hosted by Steve Paikin and Paula Todd , and first aired in 1994. TVOntario announced the program's termination on June 29, 2006...
, 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. In 1997, Sam McCallion died of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. 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. Hazel still resides in Streetsville.
She also revealed that she does everything around the house herself. "I do my own cleaning, grocery shopping, gardening… The assumption is that people in my position have others doing all these things for them but I like to be self sufficient. Housework and gardening are great forms of exercise and keep one humble."
Political career
McCallion began her politicalPolitics of Canada
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state...
career in Streetsville
Streetsville, Ontario
Streetsville is an established community located in the northwestern corner of the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on the Credit River...
, 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. The City of Mississauga came into being in 1974.
By the time she was elected mayor of Mississauga, she had sat on virtually every committee in Peel Region and the city of Mississauga. She has also served on the executive of many federal and provincial committees and associations.
Ron A. Searle
Ron Searle was the second mayor of Mississauga, Ontario.-Early life:He was born in Southampton, England on July 19, 1919 to Ruby and Alfred Searle. He was later joined by a sister, Barbara. His mother Ruby was a seamstress and his father Alfred was a seaman with the White Star Line and the Royal...
. McCallion had been in office only a few months when a public health and safety crisis occurred during the 1979 Mississauga train derailment — on November 10, 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
Peel Regional Police
Peel Regional Police provides police services for Peel Region in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in Ontario after the Toronto Police Service and third largest municipal force in Canada with 1,900 uniformed members and close to 800 support staff.Peel Region...
and other governmental authorities, oversaw an orderly and peaceful evacuation of the entire city. She sprained her ankle early in the crisis, but continued to hobble to press conferences and update briefings. There was no loss of life or serious injuries during the week-long emergency, and Mississauga gained international renown for the peaceful evacuation of its then 200,000 residents.
McCallion has overseen the growth of Mississauga from a small collection of towns and villages to one of Canada’s largest cities. This dynamic growth of the Toronto area occurred after the 1976 election of René Lévesque
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...
's Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
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 a Canadian relocation service, "Mississauga has 9,730 businesses, widely diversified in manufacturing, distribution and business services." As well, there are approximately 9,000 retail businesses." The McCallion government also spearheaded the development of a 'downtown' Mississauga area. The building of the shopping centre Square One
Square One Shopping Centre
Square One Shopping Centre is a shopping mall located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest shopping malls in Canada, with over 1.6 million square feet of retail space and more than 360 stores and services...
in the Hurontario Street and Burnhamthorpe Road section of the city during the 1970s has evolved into a centre of commercial and recreational activity.
Mississauga Transit
MiWay , is a public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The city's Transportation and Works department is in charge of its operation....
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
Highway 403 (Ontario)
King's Highway 403, also known as Highway 403, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that travels between Woodstock and Mississauga, branching off from and reuniting with Highway 401 at both ends and travelling south of it through Hamilton and Mississauga. It is concurrent...
in the 1980s eased access to this area of the city. In the 1990s, the Hershey Centre
Hershey Centre
The Hershey Centre is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex located in Mississauga, Ontario, across the street from Iceland Mississauga.-History:...
, a hockey arena and concert venue, was built near Matheson and Tomken Road facilitating the creation of the Ontario Hockey League
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....
's expansion team Mississauga IceDogs
Mississauga IceDogs
The Mississauga IceDogs are a former junior ice hockey team in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998 to 2007. A sale relocated the team to St...
.
Some of McCallion's initiatives have been unsuccessful. Under Ontario law, Mississauga is part of Peel Region
Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario
The Regional Municipality of Peel is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of three municipalities to the west and northwest of Toronto: the cities of Brampton and Mississauga, and the town of Caledon. The entire region is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner...
, along with Brampton
Brampton
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
and Caledon
Caledon, Ontario
Caledon is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. In terms of land use, Caledon is somewhat urban, though it is primarily rural in nature...
. McCallion and Mississauga council have asked that their city be made a single tier municipality, but so far that request has been denied by the Ontario government. Mississauga has so far obtained two additional seats on the regional council, which still gives it less representation than its proportionate share by population or by municipal tax base. This has created controversy within the region. Brampton and Caledon politicians argued against McCallion, saying that Mississauga's growth has slowed down and it was the chief beneficiary of Peel's 1970s infrastructure projects.
McCallion has also been unsuccessful in collecting the taxes owed to the City of Mississauga, when the federal government appropriated land for Terminal 3 of Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...
, which has cost the city millions directly. Others argue that it can be considered an investment towards expanding Canada's largest international airport
International airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
which benefits Mississauga. Gridlock
Gridlock
The term gridlock is defined as "A state of severe road congestion arising when continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill; a traffic jam of this kind." The term originates from a situation possible in...
on the arterial roads continues to plague Mississauga as in the rest of Peel Region. There are other issues affecting residents, such as a lack of affordable housing—another Peel Region responsibility. Currently, residents who qualify to receive social housing must wait many years before units are made available by Peel Region, which is instead directing the region's $1.2 billion accumulated tax reserves toward the provincial mandate for water treatment expansion and repairs, which must be completed by 2010 to comply with environmental regulations developed as a result of the Walkerton Commission reports.
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
Bona Fide
Bona Fide is a studio album from rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first studio album in six years and is the only studio album to feature guitarist Ben Granfelt...
error of judgment and she was not required to vacate her seat.
McCallion has been easily elected for the last twenty years, with no serious challengers coming close to unseating her as mayor of the city. Due to her popularity, she does not campaign during elections and refuses to accept political donations, instead asking her supporters to donate the money to charity. She is now in her twelfth consecutive term as mayor, having won her most recent bid for reelection on October 25, 2010.
She was lauded as a hero in April 2006 during a police standoff involving a distraught man threatening to kill himself. The five hour standoff promptly came to a peaceful end when McCallion appeared on the scene and demanded he stand down so that police, paramedic and fire personnel could attend to more important matters.
In 2009 McCallion was the focus of intense public opinion when it was alleged she failed to disclose her conflict of interest when attending meetings that concerned her son's company, World Class Developments Ltd. On October 3, 2011, Judge Douglas Cunningham found McCallion "acted in a 'real and apparent conflict of interest' while pushing hard for a real estate deal that could have put millions of dollars in her son’s pocket."
Political ideology
Mayor McCallion has worked with a variety of federal and provincial governments, and has not expressed a consistent party preference, preferring to work 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. Mississauga is one of the few cities in Canada that is debt-free; it has not had to borrow money since 1978. However, Mississauga may have to borrow money to build new capital projects in 2012. She has been described as a "small-c" conservative.
Although McCallion is one of the most prominent women now holding political power in Canada, it is difficult to categorize her as a feminist. She is able to express support for women's equality in Canada, and internationally, without being typecast
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
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.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
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
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
in southern Africa. Accordingly, she has been lauded as "an international ambassador for the city and a world citizen" by a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization advancing the concerns of cities internationally.
In 2007, McCallion responded to the federal government's refusal to give one cent of the GST
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
to the cities, a funding source long requested by many municipalities across Canada, by planning to levy a five per cent surcharge on property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
es in the city. She was able to have the levy introduced and approved on the same day by Mississauga council, in contrast to Mayor David Miller of Toronto who was unable to get increased tax revenue approved for months. Most media coverage, as well as Toronto mayor David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...
, noted that McCallion was arguably one of the few mayors in the country with the political capital to implement such a strategy.
McCallion has also expressed pessimism over Miller's 'One-cent now', saying that "I can assure you our citizens [of Mississauga] can’t point out to us where there’s a lot of waste. Toronto, unfortunately, has that situation, in which their citizens are saying it, as well as their board of trade has been saying it and even their own councillors are saying it. If my councillors were saying we were wasting money, I'd be really concerned. I think we give value for tax dollars; we run our city like a business." Toronto councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong
Denzil Minnan-Wong
Denzil Minnan-Wong is a Toronto city councillor representing one of the two Don Valley East wards, Toronto City Council Ward 34. He is the son of Denzil Minnan-Wong, Sr., a Chinese immigrant who became a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. His father died in 1988 at...
made a comparison; "Hazel McCallion runs a tight ship. David Miller’s ship has leaks all over the place,” and some commentators suggested this allowed Mississauga to make a more credible case to the federal government. She unveiled her own plan known as 'Cities Now!' to get federal funding for municipal infrastructure.
McCallion hosts an annual gala in Mississauga to raise money for arts and culture in the city. Attendees at the 2008 gala, which also marked the 30th anniversary of McCallion's election to the mayoralty of Mississauga, included former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
Lincoln Alexander
Lincoln Alexander
-External links:* * *...
and American talk show host Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
.
International politics
McCallion was one of the first Canadian politicians to openly support the creation of a Palestinian state. Addressing the annual convention of the Canadian Arab FederationCanadian Arab Federation
The Canadian Arab Federation was formed in 1967 to represent the interests of Arab Canadians with respect to the formulation of public policy in Canada. It presently consists of over 40 member organizations....
in 1983, she argued that Palestinian issues had been distorted by the national media and was quoted as saying, "The Palestinians need and require and deserve a country of their own. Why shouldn't they get it?"
Hockey
McCallion is well known in Canada for her love of hockeyHockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
. She played for a professional women's team while attending school in Montreal. One of her friends is Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
commentator Don Cherry, who joked during her 87th birthday that while 98 per cent of the city voted for her, he was looking for the remaining 2 per cent that didn't.
McCallion began playing hockey in the late 1920s in the town of Port Daniel, Quebec
Port-Daniel–Gascons, Quebec
Port-Daniel-Gascons is a municipality in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of the province of Quebec in Canada.-Notable residents:*Édouard Gagnon , a Canadian Roman Catholic Cardinal, was born in Port-Daniel....
. She played with her two sisters and was a forward on their team. McCallion later played hockey for $5 a game in the city of Montreal. The team was sponsored by Kik Cola and it was a three team women’s league. At one time, she was a board member of the Ontario Women's Hockey League, and was instrumental in getting the Hershey Centre
Hershey Centre
The Hershey Centre is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex located in Mississauga, Ontario, across the street from Iceland Mississauga.-History:...
built for the city of Mississauga. McCallion provided assistance for Don Cherry
Don Cherry
Don Cherry may refer to:* Don Cherry hockey player, coach, and commentator* Don Cherry , trumpeter* Don Cherry...
’s group to bring an Ontario Hockey League franchise to the city in 1998, and she was instrumental in bringing the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships to the city in 2000.
Honours
- In 2005 she was made a Member of the Order of CanadaOrder of CanadaThe Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. She is also one of the few non-Germans to be a Member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (see BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
). - She ranked second in the 2005 international World MayorWorld MayorWorld Mayor is a biennial award organized by The City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally...
poll, behind only Dora BakoyannisDora BakoyannisDora Bakoyannis , born Theodora Mitsotaki , is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in...
of AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. - The University of Toronto at Mississauga has named their new library and academic learning centreUniversity of Toronto Mississauga LibraryThe University of Toronto Mississauga Library is the humanities, sciences and social sciences library of the University of Toronto Mississauga, one of three campuses of the University of Toronto located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada....
after McCallion, in appreciation for the support offered to the campus in its growth and development. - The Peel Board of Education has named a school after her: the Hazel McCallion Senior Public SchoolHazel McCallion Senior Public SchoolHazel McCallion Senior Public School is a middle school located in Streetsville, Mississauga. The school was opened in 1991 to accommodate students from Willow Way Public School and Whitehorn Public School. Hazel McCallion public school is named after the current mayor of Mississauga, Hazel McCallion...
. - Different Hazel McCallion bobblehead dolls have been made.
- She was named "American Woman of the Year" in Who's Who of American Women, as well as "Woman of the Year 2001" by an international business lobby.
- The Delta Meadowvale Hotel has a Hazel McCallion Room in her honour.
- On June 7, 2010, she received the Honorable Doctorate degree by University of Toronto during the convocation of Bachelor of Arts for the University of Toronto Mississauga graduating class.