It has been said before and it will be said again, and it made no difference in the past and it won't make much difference now ... but Mississauga is what it is due to Hazel McCallion ... both the good and the bad. It just so happens that the good has been little and the bad has been ample in the 89-year old's most recent term.

Hazel is a wonder, actively running the city at her age. But is the desire to be in charge and active--perhaps the fear of adjusting to a quieter retired life--making her lose sight of what is truly best for the city she so passionately developed from nothing into one of the largest in the country?

Could the lack of leadership in the city--a council of yesmen and yeswomen--be a good thing for the future of the city? I wish out of the dozen plus candidates for mayor this time, there was someone else who actually presented a reasonable challenge against Hazel. Isn't it shameful that she is so convinced of a victory that she refuses to even campaign?