No one is retiring Hazel McCallion. The Canadian politician, who led the city of Mississauga (Ontario) as mayor for 36 years, celebrated the renewal of his employment contract a few days ago. At 101, he will continue to sit on the board of directors of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, the organization in charge of managing the airport. Lester B. Pearson Airport, the busiest in Canada. He has held this position since 2017, where he also acts as a representative of the federal government.

In announcing the continuation of his contract, Omar Alghabra, the federal Minister of Transport, highlighted his decades of experience in community life and wished that his successes continue at Canada’s largest airfield. In 2019, before the ravages of the pandemic began to be felt, Lester B. Pearson Airport served more than 50 million passengers.

Decorated in 2005 with the Order of Canada, Hazel McCallion is one of the most important political figures in the country. was mayor of Mississauga, the third most populous city in Ontario, on the outskirts of Toronto, between 1978 and 2014. He decided not to run again at the age of 93. Her way of handling public affairs and her direct and often humorous tone set her apart. In February 2003, she was hit by a van. He spent two days in the hospital. As he left, he said into the microphones: “The van is still being repaired.”

McCallion won 12 elections at the polls and was re-elected twice by acclamation, despite being opposed to campaigning and political donations. She has been called by the media a “fiscal conservative”. One of his most famous phrases during his years as mayor was, “I learned to do things with few resources. And that’s why, today, I only spend taxpayers’ money as if it were my own, which is not much. Mississauga people love it. However, McCallion is also associated with a liberal view on other issues. In 2015, he publicly supported Justin Trudeau in the federal election that brought the Liberals to power. Although her image as mayor has worn a stain, according to the newspaper’s archives: in the 1980s, she was singled out for a conflict of interest, in a decision related to the development of certain land.

Born in 1921 in Port-Daniel (Quebec), Hazel McCallion completed secretarial studies. He has repeatedly stressed that he was unable to access university classrooms due to his family’s economic difficulties. She played ice hockey for a few years in a professional women’s league. Later, he worked in private companies and married in 1952 with a photographer (died in 1997); The couple had three children. McCallion served as president of the Young Anglican Association of Canada. Later, she began to stand out in municipal politics at a time when women in the country were not abundant in said sphere, until her arrival at the main office in Mississauga.

Hazel McCallion’s agenda will not only have spaces reserved for her activities at the airport agency. On March 17, the University of Toronto announced that McCallion would continue to act as a special advisor at its Mississauga campus, a role she has held since 2015. On the day of the announcement, university officials called it “an invaluable resource”. . The Canadian continues to show that the author of her famous nickname was not mistaken: she has been known for decades as “Hurricane Hazel”.

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