April 27, 2016

in

Hazel McCallion, Mississauga's larger-than-life mayor for 36 years, was first elected Mayor in November 1978. She was acclaimed in 1980, re-elected in 1982 and 1985, acclaimed again in 1988 and re-elected in 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2010. Mayor McCallion retired from office in November 2014.



On December 29, 1967, Mrs. Hazel McCallion is profiled in The Weekly. After serving as Deputy-Reeve and Reeve, she is elected as Mayor of Streetsville in 1968, a position she holds until the City of Mississauga is formed in 1974. Streetsville elects her to the new Mississauga Council.



Councillor Hazel McCallion rides in the Mississauga City Day Parade on September 7, 1974. Beginning with the parade and ending with fireworks over Port Credit harbour, it is a day to celebrate our new city!



McCallion wins a second term as councillor in November 1976. The new Mayor and Council are photographed at the ceremonial inaugural meeting on January 4, 1977. Front row, left to right: Councillor Mary Helen Spence, Mayor Ron Searle, Councillor Hazel McCallion. Back row: Councillor Harold Kennedy, Councillor Frank Leavers, Councillor Frank McKechnie, Councillor Fred Hooper, Councillor Frank Bean, Councillor Terence Butt, Councillor Larry Taylor.



In November 1978 Mississauga elects Hazel McCallion as mayor. In 1982 she is photographed at her third inaugural ceremony. Front row, left to right: Capt. D. J. Copple, Salvation Army, Judge Martin Morissey, Mayor Hazel McCallion, Father George Couto, Assistant Pastor, St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church, E. M. (Ed) Halliday, City Manager and Terry Julian, City Clerk. Back row, left to right: Councillors Dave Cook, Steve Mahoney, Harold Kennedy, Ted Southorn, Margaret Marland, Rudy Skjarum, Dave Culham, Larry Taylor and Frank McKechnie. Photographed on December 6, 1982 by Bert Hoferichter, MPA.



On the night of November 10, 1979, a 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train derails at Mavis Road, north of Dundas Street. When one of the tank cars explodes, and because other tank cars are carrying chlorine, the decision is made to evacuate nearby residents in one of the largest peacetime evacuations in history. Here, Mayor Hazel McCallion and Solicitor General Roy McMurtry answer questions from the press.

Mayor McCallion attends a fundraising dinner in support of the Mississauga Hospital on May 12, 1982. On her left is Joey Smallwood, former Premier of Newfoundland and keynote speaker. The event is sponsored by the Port Credit Rotary Club.



Waiting for cake! On January 28, 1984, Mayor McCallion opens the new Meadowvale West Branch library in the Professional Centre on Meadowvale Town Centre Circle. Behind her is Library Board Chairman, Dr. D. McFarlane.



By its tenth anniversary, Mississauga is ready to build a new city hall. Mayor McCallion and Chief Frank LaForme of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation take part in the groundbreaking ceremony on May 8, 1984. Seated behind them is Lieutenant Governor John Black Aird.



Mayor McCallion breaks ground for the new Central Library on September 23, 1988. It opens officially on October 2, 1991.

Mayor McCallion leads the way in Streetsville's annual Bread and Honey Parade on June 6, 2008.

Mayor Hazel McCallion is photographed by Bert Hoferichter, MPA in the early years of her mayoralty.

This photo story is courtesy of the Mississauga Library System.

Be sure to visit the Historic Images Gallery and The Library's Local History page to learn more about our city.

For copyright information or to donate photographs, please contact history [dot] library [at] mississauga [dot] ca.