Join us today at 1:00 p.m. on our YouTube channel as we celebrate #Hazel100: A Milestone Celebration of our Heritage Hero, Hurricane Hazel.

On February 14, 2021, Hazel McCallion is turning 100 years young and Heritage Mississauga would like to wish Hazel a healthy, happy and celebratory day on this momentous occasion.

Today is also Hazel McCallion Day as per the Hazel McCallion Day Act which states:

“Hazel McCallion served in public office continuously from 1968 until her retirement in 2014. She was first elected mayor of Streetsville in 1970 and then as a councillor in Mississauga and in the newly created Region of Peel in 1974. Following two terms as a councillor, she was elected mayor of Mississauga in the 1978 municipal election. During her historic thirty-six years in that office she oversaw the incredible growth and urban transformation of Mississauga from a city of 280,850 residents in 1978 to Canada’s sixth largest city in 2011, with more than 713,000 residents. Her tenure as Mississauga’s mayor is the longest in the city’s history and she has received numerous awards and honours for her lifetime of contributions to her community.

Though retired from politics, she remains an active champion of major Mississauga-based projects, including the University of Toronto (Mississauga) and Sheridan College. Her years of service to her community have been recognized through the dedication of public facilities in her honour, such as the Hazel McCallion Campus (Sheridan College), the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre (University of Toronto Mississauga), the Hazel McCallion Senior Public School in Streetsville and the Hazel McCallion Centre for Heart Health (Trillium Health Centre). She has been an active fundraiser for local and international charities.

McCallion’s achievements are notable for their number and scale, as well as the social atmosphere in which she began her career. Though women had been elected mayor of other Canadian cities previous to McCallion, political life was nonetheless widely regarded during the 1960s – when she entered politics – to be a man’s domain. Her participation in public life since that time makes her a brilliant example to women and, indeed, all Ontarians. As our province strives to eliminate gender-based discrimination, her professional life and numerous contributions are reflective of the leadership role that women can, and should, be entitled to seek in a fair and just society.

In honour of her lifetime of contributions, it is appropriate to recognize February 14th (McCallion’s birthday) in each year as Hazel McCallion Day in Ontario.”

Throughout the week leading up to Hazel’s birthday, we have been sharing some of our favorite quotes , or Hazelisms, and certainly one of the more popular quotes has been “Do your homework.”

When asked by Women’s Millionaire Magazine about some of the best qualities for other women for getting ahead in business and politics, Hazel responded:

“Having confidence in themselves. Remain very independent, work hard and do your homework. You must also be extremely committed, because a woman has to work hard to get anywhere in both the business world and politics. You’ve got to work hard and sometimes you even have to work twice as hard because, as a woman you may also be looking after a house and raising a family. You gotta be confident in yourself and confident that you, as a woman, a female can do anything a man can do”

Hazel in known for her many direct, succinct and inspiring quotes and in a recent interview with Global News, Hazel stated: “Every part of my life has been a wonderful experience.” and we certainly hope that #Hazel100 will be another amazing experience for our heritage hero, the incomparable Hurricane Hazel.

#ApartTogether we celebrate a Mississauga icon.