The office of Doug Ford has announced the passing of former Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion this morning in her Mississauga home.
She was 101 years old.
Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said he admired McCallion for her wisdom and caring nature.
“Her wisdom and her knowledge and her caring, caring about her municipality but all the municipalities in Ontario and Canada and all the people,” said Harrison. “She just exemplified the humanistic approach to so many things and love and desire to make places in our province and our country better.”
Quinte West Fire Chief John Whalen said she was very down to earth, and shared a story from when he spoke to her during the 2019 Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
Whalen says that during a function at the conference, he invited McCallion back to the hospitality suite run by Quinte West. She agreed, and asked if they had white wine to drink. Whalen told her they did, but was then told by Councillor Egerton Boyce they were out, and he’d go get some. Boyce sprinted to the closest liquor store to get the wine before it closed. When Whalen and McCallion returned to the suite though, McCallion asked for a beer instead. All three of them had a good laugh when Boyce made it back to the suite.
“Hazel was a dedicated volunteer and added so much to not only her community but the province as a whole,” said Neil Ellis, mayor of Belleville.
McCallion had served 36 years as mayor in Mississauga, the longest serving mayor in the city’s history.
