LILLEY: Hurricane Hazel McCallion a once-in-a-century political storm

Sadly, the long-time Mississauga mayor has died at 101

Hurricane Hazel has gone silent, the feisty former mayor of Mississauga has died.

Hazel McCallion’s passing, which happened early Sunday morning, was announced by Premier Doug Ford at the request of her family.

“There isn’t a single person who met Hazel who didn’t leave in awe of her force of personality. I count myself incredibly lucky to have called Hazel my friend over these past many years,” Ford said. “As I entered the world of politics, I was fortunate enough to learn from her wisdom and guidance, which she selflessly offered until the very end.”

McCallion died 18 days short of her 102 birthday, which she had hoped to celebrate on Feb. 14. That’s a long life and a feat many of us hope to accomplish before we go.

It’s astonishing to consider the changes McCallion saw over her long life.

Although McCallion went on to become one of the most successful female politicians in Canada, when she was born in 1921, women had only just received the right to vote in federal elections. Her home province of Quebec wouldn’t allow women to vote until 1940 when McCallion was 19.

I can’t imagine anyone telling Hurricane Hazel that she couldn’t vote, or enter politics.

She first ran for office in Streetsville in 1964, which might have been the last campaign she lost. She was a town councillor and mayor before Streetsville was merged into the City of Mississauga. After serving as councillor in the then new city of Mississauga, McCallion was elected mayor in 1978 and held the office until 2014.

Having been at events with McCallion after her retirement, it was always interesting to see how the people she served treated her with warmth, grace and gratitude. Even outside of political events, people flocked to McCallion, like the time I watched fans at a Toronto FC game mob her for selfies in 2019.

At times, it was like there were two mayors of Mississauga at events when McCallion turned up at the same event as her successor Bonnie Crombie.

McCallion was identified at times as a Liberal and a Conservative. Both parties tried to claim her as one of their own or dismiss her as belonging to the other tribe depending on whether she was supporting or opposing what the government of the day was proposing.

At heart, McCallion’s main concern was what was best for the people of Mississauga.

She endorsed Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne in the 2014 election but turned around and endorsed Doug Ford in 2018. She took on premiers and prime ministers of all stripes and all stripes sought out her guidance and endorsement.

She never ran for higher political office, but she was courted to do so. Still, as her city grew, so did her political clout.

McCallion served until the end, still holding the position of Chair of the Greenbelt council and even inserting herself into the political debate about building on the Greenbelt just 10 days ago.

McCallion came out in support of the Ford government’s plan in her open letter but it’s the other words that matter now.

“I have worked in partnership with colleagues, and adversaries, wrestling with challenges, conflicts, differences of opinion and agendas, and together we found ways to accommodate families in homes, communities and cities that people wanted and do call home,” McCallion wrote.

McCallion was a community builder throughout her career and right up until the end. It will be a long time before we see another politician quite like Hurricane Hazel.

blilley@postmedia.com