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Annemarie Hagan – Life of Mayor “Hurricane Hazel”
May 13 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Annemarie Hagan
Topic: Hazel McCallion a dominate force as Mississauga mayor
Harold Nash introduced guest speaker, Annemarie Hagan, an award-winning curator and museum professional with over 35 years of experience. She has a B.A. in history from the University of Toronto and from 1998 to 2014 she was the manager of museums of Mississauga. Annemarie spoke extensively about Hazel McCallion, affectionately known as “Hurricane Hazel,” former mayor of the city of Mississauga.
Hazel was born in Montreal in 1921. She played professional hockey in the Gaspe Coast League. She worked for Canadian Kellogg Engineering and moved to Annemarie Hagan Toronto in the late 1940s as their office manager. Hazel married in 1951 and settled in Streetsville and entered the world of politics. She lost her only election in 1964 when she ran unsuccessfully for deputy reeve. She was elected to that post in 1967 and served as mayor of Streetsville from 1970-73.
Annemarie said that Hazel was strongly opposed to the amalgamation proposed by then Ontario Premier Bill Davis and Streetsville and Port Credit were the two strongest holdouts. But the creation of Mississauga finally took place, and Hazel ran for mayor in 1978 and won 12 consecutive elections, serving as mayor for 36 years until her retirement in 2014.
Hazel earned a reputation for her business friendly polices and was known by her critics as “the queen of sprawl” as she worked to attract business and investments to her city.
Annemarie noted that Hazel didn’t avoid scandals as she twice was cited for municipal conflict of interest infractions when she failed to declare her conflicts while voting on development issues including one instance involving her son.
Annemarie said that Hazel never toed any party line and ended up with good friends on both sides of the floor and enjoyed sharing the limelight with all sorts of celebrities. She remained active after her retirement and passed away in 2023 at the age of 101.
Andy Redman thanked Annemarie for her extensive presentation on the life of Hazel.
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