Biography - Mayor Hazel McCallion, C.M.

Hazel McCallion was first elected Mayor of Mississauga in November, 1978, and is the longest serving Mayor in the City's history. She was acclaimed in 1980, re-elected in 1982 and 1985, acclaimed again in 1988 and re-elected in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006.

Mayor McCallion was born in Port Daniel on the Gaspe Coast of Quebec and educated in Quebec City and Montreal. She then began her career in Montreal with Canadian Kellogg, an engineering and contracting firm, and was transferred to Toronto in 1942 to help set up the local office.  Mayor McCallion was involved in many projects including the Lakeview Generating Station, the British American refinery in Clarkson, the first synthetic rubber plant in Sarnia and the pilot project for the tar sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta.  Mayor McCallion remained with the company for 19 years.  In 1967 she decided to leave the corporate world and devote her career to politics.

Mayor McCallion was named as a new member of the Streetsville Planning Board in 1964 and served as Chair of the Board in 1966 and again in 1968.  Later that same year, she became Deputy Reeve of Streetsville.  Mayor McCallion was appointed Reeve, and then elected as Mayor of Streetsville in 1970, serving until December, 1973. When the Region of Peel was established in 1974, Mayor McCallion was elected to the Mississauga and Peel Regional Councils. She served two terms as a Councillor prior to her mayoral campaign in 1978. By the time she was elected Mayor, 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, including President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) from 1978 - 79. She is now in her eleventh term as Mayor.