Larger-than-life octogenarian mayor heads into her final election next month as the city stands on the doorstep of change<\/p>\n
Adrian Morrow<\/p>\n
From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
\nPublished on Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2010 8:13PM EDT<\/p>\n
Last updated on Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2010 1:38PM EDT<\/p>\n
In her 32-year-long reign over Mississauga, Hazel McCallion has watched the city grow from a collection of villages and farms into the sixth-largest municipality in Canada. At the same time, the diminutive grandmother has become a larger-than-life leader, one of the most popular and enduring politicians in the country, facing little opposition over her lengthy term. <\/p>\n
But as the octogenarian heads into her final election on Oct. 25, Mississauga finally seems ready to emerge from her shadow. <\/p>\n
In the past four years, councillors have become more assertive, breaking with the mayor on key votes, and citizens\u2019 groups have sprung up in unprecedented numbers. An ongoing judicial inquiry has aired sensational allegations that the mayor intervened to push through a land deal involving her son, making even those who have supported her for decades reassess her leadership. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the city itself stands on the doorstep of a fundamental change: Developers\u2019 fees have dried up, meaning Mississauga will have to borrow money for the first time in over 30 years, leading city politicians to talk about transforming the suburbs west of Toronto into a metropolis in its own right. <\/p>\n
Ms. McCallion\u2019s political success has partly been driven by her decisive, tough personality (\u201cI think I would fall out of my chair if she came into my office and asked \u2018What do you think about this?\u2019\u201d said George Carlson, an affable three-term councillor). It\u2019s also been fuelled by the city\u2019s development. Her administration opened up vast tracts of land to builders but charged them hefty fees to build. This system not only proved a windfall for the city, but by allowing builders on empty land, the city avoided the kinds of messy debates that often accompany development in established communities, says Tom Urbaniak, a Cape Breton University professor and author of a biography of Hazel McCallion. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes for low-temperature politics,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
With most of this land now used up, developers have turned to building in more established neighbourhoods, providing the catalyst for the growth of city-wide citizens groups. When the city planned to move the library in Port Credit into a new condo development in 2007, for example, residents rallied together to oppose the move. Council voted against the mayor, opting to leave the library in place. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s often a galvanizing issue that brings people together. The good news in Mississauga is that people are staying together,\u201d said Dorothy Tomiuk, a website designer and Port Credit resident who first became a civic activist during the tussle over the library. In 2008, she helped form the Mississauga Residents Associations\u2019 Network, a city-wide coalition that offers input on everything from budgets to development issues. \u201cA few years ago, everyone woke up and said \u2018Wow, what happened to our charming little town?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the election of two new councillors in 2006 \u2013 outspoken former Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish and ex-school trustee Sue McFadden \u2013 kicked off an era that has seen more debate at city hall. In 2008, following revelations that the mayor had signed a deal years earlier that gave a minority shareholder in the city\u2019s hydro utility veto power over its decisions, councillors voted to buy the shareholder out over Ms. McCallion\u2019s objections. <\/p>\n
Council also began to ask questions about the mayor\u2019s involvement in a failed deal to build a four-star hotel and convention centre near city hall. Her son, Peter McCallion, was listed as a part owner of the company spearheading the development, and his former business partner asserted that the mayor had attended the company\u2019s meetings. Council ultimately voted to call an inquiry. <\/p>\n
While the mayor has accused her opponents of making council dysfunctional, they counter that the rise in opposition within city hall \u2013 much like the growth of citizens\u2019 movements outside it \u2013 is just another sign that the city is growing up. <\/p>\n
The city has begun to draw up a plan to guide growth for the next 40 years. It has also encouraged the densification of the city centre, approving several condominium projects, including the Absolute towers. The pair of curving buildings \u2013 at 50 and 40 storeys, respectively \u2013 will be the tallest on the city\u2019s skyline. Earlier this year, council also gave the go-ahead for a long-term plan to build an LRT on a central thoroughfare, Hurontario Street. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of a renaissance going on,\u201d said Mr. Carlson. \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting to see a maturing city. It used to be \u2018how do I pay my mortgage and when will my park be finished?\u2019 now it\u2019s \u2018can we upgrade the park to accommodate the tai chi club?\u2019 We\u2019re putting in more cricket pitches now than baseball diamonds.\u201d <\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/national\/toronto\/city-votes\/is-mississauga-about-to-emerge-from-hazel-mccallions-shadow\/article1707733\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Larger-than-life octogenarian mayor heads into her final election next month as the city stands on the doorstep of change Adrian Morrow From Wednesday…
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