No one is retiring Hazel McCallion. The Canadian politician, who led the city of Mississauga (Ontario) as mayor for 36 years, celebrated the extension of her employment contract a few days ago. At age 101, he remains a member of the board of directors of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, the body responsible for managing the airport. Lester B. Pearson Airport, Canada’s busiest. He has held this position since 2017, where he also serves as a representative of the federal government.

In announcing the continuation of his contract, Omar Alghabra, the Federal Minister of Transportation, emphasized his decades of experience in community life and hoped that his successes would continue at Canada’s largest airport. In 2019, before the ravages of the pandemic hit, Lester B. Pearson Airport served more than 50 million passengers.

Hazel McCallion, awarded the Order of Canada in 2005, is one of the most important political figures in the country. was mayor of Mississauga, Ontario’s third most populous city, on the outskirts of Toronto, between 1978 and 2014. He decided not to seek re-election at the age of 93. Her way of managing public affairs and her direct and often humorous tone made her stand out. In February 2003, she was hit by a van. He spent two days in the hospital. As he left, he stated into the microphones, “The van is still under repair.”

McCallion triumphed in 12 elections at the polls and was re-elected twice by acclamation, despite his aversion to election campaigning and political donations. She has been labeled a “fiscal conservative” by the media. One of his most famous statements during his years as mayor was: “I have learned to do things with few resources. And that is why today I only spend taxpayers’ money as if it were my own, which is little. That’s what the people of Mississauga like.” 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. Though her image as mayor has suffered a tarnish , according to the newspaper archives: in the 1980s, she was singled out for a conflict of interest, in a decision regarding the planning of a plot of land.

Hazel McCallion, born in 1921 in Port-Daniel (Quebec), completed secretarial training. He has pointed out several times that he failed to make it to university classrooms due to his family’s economic problems. She played ice hockey in a professional women’s league for a few years. He later worked in private companies and married a photographer (died 1997) in 1952; the couple had three children. McCallion was president of the Anglican Youth Association of Canada. She later began to stand out in municipal politics at a time when women in the country were not abundant in that field until her arrival at Mississauga headquarters.

Hazel McCallion’s agenda will not only have seats reserved for her activities at the airport office. On March 17, the University of Toronto announced that McCallion will continue to serve as a special advisor on the Mississauga campus, a position she has held since 2015. On the day of the announcement, university officials called her “an invaluable resource.” . The Canadian continues to prove that the author of her famous nickname was not wrong: she has been known as “Hurricane Hazel” for decades.

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