Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion remembered as an icon at state funeral

Former longtime Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion was remembered as a trailblazing force of nature and the city's most famous citizen during a state funeral Tuesday on what would have been her 102nd birthday.

Thousands of people attended the service at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, where McCallion was remembered for her compassion and leadership, and as someone with a passion for community service, diversity, and women's sports — especially hockey. Speakers and dignitaries shared many stories about the woman who served as the city's mayor for 36 years, often to knowing smiles and warm laughter from the crowd.

Family friend Jim Murray was the first to speak, remembering what he said was McCallion's favourite phrase: "Do your homework." It was a phrase she so loved, he said, that McCallion once had it printed on a shirt and sent to a cabinet minister she believed needed a reminder to do just that.

Murray said the amassed crowd had clearly done its homework, as everyone was there to honour McCallion's life, and the "enormous contribution she made to the City of Mississauga as the architect of this city."

Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, said McCallion was a trailblazer, innovator and fighter, who left people with a profound understanding of the impact that one person can have.

"Hazel McCallion's life was a life of purpose, and she was ever present with us, with endless generosity of time and spirit," she said.

"To her, everyone mattered, regardless of their station in life."

Remembered as a legend

McCallion's flag-draped casket was brought into the arena to the sound of bagpipes as the service got underway, and lasted for over two hours as multiple speakers recounted the way she had touched their lives. Dignitaries included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and former prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Flags will be flown at half-mast across the province on Tuesday, according to the office of the premier. People also paid tribute to the former mayor as she lay in state for two days on Sunday and Monday.

The premier said McCallion was an icon and a legend who was in command of every single room she entered.

"There wasn't a single person who met Hazel who didn't leave in awe of her force of personality," Ford said.

"Everyone knew Hazel was a force to be reckoned with — and if you didn't, you quickly found out."

Trudeau recounted how he ran into McCallion on a trip to Italy years ago, where she became one of the oldest people to ever zipline between two expansive mountain peaks.

"She wouldn't let anything stop her, ever," he said.

McCallion also loved to point out that when she first became mayor, there were cows and horses grazing in what would eventually become the core of Mississauga, Trudeau said. Now, it's the third largest city in Ontario and the sixth largest in Canada, with a population of more than 700,000 as of 2021.

"She was a true nation builder in a nation of builders," Trudeau said.

A long legacy

McCallion left a legacy of feisty advocacy and more than three decades of nearly unchallenged leadership.

Known affectionately as "Hurricane Hazel," she was an outspoken political powerhouse who earned respect across the political spectrum.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie also spoke Tuesday, saying her predecessor smashed the door open for women in politics and business.

Most people, she said, thought McCallion would live forever.

"In a way, she will, she will always live forever in our hearts," Crombie said. "Hazel was the 'Missus' in Mississauga and the city will not be the same without her."

Ford announced McCallion's death on the morning of Jan. 29, saying she died peacefully at her home in Mississauga at the age of 101.

Murray confirmed McCallion died of pancreatic cancer, which she was diagnosed with around Christmas.

Hazel Mary Muriel Journeaux was born on Feb. 14, 1921, in Port Daniel, Que., a very small town in the Gaspé Peninsula. She was the youngest of five children. She met Sam McCallion in Toronto after she moved there in her 20s. They married and raised three children.

She was mayor of Mississauga from 1978 to 2014, serving 12 terms.

McCallion is survived by her sons, Peter and Paul, daughter Linda and granddaughter Erika.