Hazel McCallion
Hazel McCallion is the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, and Canada's sixth largest city. She is often called "Hurricane" Hazel by the media, and has a political style that has been compared to that of Margaret Thatcher. McCallion has been Mississauga's mayor since 1978. She began her political career in Streetsville, Ontario, a village which has since merged into the city of Mississauga. Beginning as the Chairman of the Streetsville Planning Board in 1967, she later became Deputy Reeve of Streetsville and was appointed Reeve soon after. She was elected as Streetsville's mayor in 1970, serving until 1973. By the time she was elected Mayor of Mississauga, she had sat on virtually every committee at the Region of Peel and the City of Mississauga. She has also served on the executive of many federal and provincial committees and associations.
She is one of Canada's best known and longest serving mayors. At the age of 82, she was re-elected in November 2003 for her 10th consecutive term as the mayor of Mississauga. During her 25 years in office, both she and the city of Mississauga have set new standards in Canadian municipal government. Mississauga is one of a few cities in Canada that is debt-free and it has not had to borrow money since 1978.
Mayor McCallion was born in Port Daniel on the Gaspe Coast of Quebec and educated in Quebec City and Montreal.