Could Hazel McCallion be the next Sarah Palin-style sensation on Fox News?

It’s unlikely, but the 90-year-old Mississauga mayor will be front and centre in the living rooms of right-leaning Americans this weekend when she appears on the network’s Huckabee.

“It was a complete surprise on Tuesday morning,” McCallion told the Star. “I got a request to appear on his program.”

The light-hearted political affairs show, with an unabashed right-wing bias, is hosted by Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

“I didn’t even know what his program was about,” McCallion said, when asked about the show. “I had never even heard of it.”

But she said the free continent-wide publicity for her city made the offer a no-brainer. The focus of her appearance is how she’s helped Mississauga remain debt-free.

“I asked council and they said: Go,” she said of the trip. The show will be taped at Fox’s New York studios Saturday, and she’ll fly there and back the same day. The segment airs Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m.

“Governor Huckabee saw a video of Mayor Hazel and forwarded an email to the staff,” explained executive producer Holly Cerelli. “She looked like an interesting person, someone still going strong and leading her city in the right direction, so we invited her on the show.”

McCallion said the show called her after her appearance on the Rick Mercer Show, saying it was impressive. But don’t expect the mayor to be swept up by all the attention. “When Regis (Philbin) came up to perform at my gala a few years ago,” she says, “I didn’t even know who he was.”

The Huckabee invitation wasn’t the only honour for McCallion this week. She was also named the first recipient of the Positive Aging Award by the Ontario Gerontology Association, in recognition of her “dynamism,” involvement with society and active lifestyle. She’ll accept the award Wednesday at the association’s annual conference in Markham.

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