Edward Keenan: Unstoppable and seemingly eternal, Hazel McCallion lived a remarkable life
It would have been Hazel McCallion’s 102nd birthday Tuesday, and somehow even that number seemed surprisingly low as political leaders from across the country gathered to say farewell at her state funeral in Mississauga.
From where I sit, her legacy as a city-builder looks decidedly mixed, but you absolutely cannot argue with her success, as a trailblazer and a politician and a human being who did it her own way.
Toronto’s still-mayor-for-today, John Tory, who was among the last officials to meet with her before her death, described that last conversation as being characterized by “incredible frankness.” We can translate from the language of Toryish to assume she was pulling no punches to the end. You would expect nothing less.
And along the way, she took a model of city building that was common enough in former suburbs across North America and virtually perfected it, earning another nickname as the “Queen of Sprawl.” And then very late in life she became the face of Ford’s decision to open up the Greenbelt for developers, turning more farmland into more sprawl.
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