Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion passed away peacefully at her home in the city at 101 years old. .“Hazel was the true definition of a public servant,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a Sunday statement. .The statement said McCallion served as Mississauga mayor for 36 years, the longest mayor in the city’s history. It said she led the transformation of Mississauga into one of Canada’s largest cities. .Her mark on Mississauga can be found in many places and organizations bearing her name, including the Hazel McCallion Line. .McCallion lost her first political race. She won the 1966 Mississauga deputy reeve election, and she would not be defeated in her next 17 election campaigns. .As Mississauga mayor from 1978 to 2014, she went unopposed twice and was not threatened by rivals in nine other re-election bids. One opponent likened taking her on to "challenging somebody's favourite grandmother." .McCallion earned her nickname Hurricane Hazel after the storm which battered southern Ontario in 1954, soon after taking decisive action during an explosive train derailment in 1979. She embodied the nickname throughout the decades by being strong, fearless, and some times indiscriminate in her targets..Ford said there is not “a single person who met Hazel who didn’t leave in awe of her force of personality.” He said he considered himself lucky to have called her a friend over the years. .The premier went on to say he knows “we will all miss the wit and tenacity of the one and only Hurricane Hazel.” He extended his condolences to her family, especially her children Peter, Linda, and Paul. .“Thank you for sharing your mother with us for so many years,” he said. .“Her city, and our province, are better places because of the amazing life of Hazel McCallion.”
