Hurricane Hazel to keep on trucking

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Want to know the true cost of a traffic jam?

Try this.

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, 89, told a group of trucking-industry folks this week that her city is going to have to build more fire halls because at the moment, fire engines cannot get to burning buildings quickly enough.

It should take less than five minutes for a fire truck to arrive on the scene but traffic is so bad that right now, the trip can last almost double that.

It’s a deadly situation.

McCallion was addressing trucking and logistics-industry attendees at the TransCore LinkLogistics user conference and charity golf tournament, held at the Lion’s Head Golf and Country Club this week when she made her observations.

Her growing municipality, she said, manages to keep out of debt but she said she can’t guarantee that will last.

Traffic congestion, she said, is among Mississauga’s biggest woes and by extension, she said, it’s strangling the Canadian economy. “The GTA is the economic engine of Canada.”

It’s going to cost about $30 billion to solve GTA congestion, she estimated, adding it’s worth it. “We are in a global competition second to none.”

Years ago, she said, she would tell her children when they didn’t finish their food that “there are lots of children in India and China who don’t get enough to eat.”

“Now we should be saying ‘finish your education because the young people of China and India are finishing their education and they are your competition.”

“China and India are spending billions on education. China and India are spending billions on infrastructure. Are we doing that?”

The always fiery McCallion used the platform to appeal to those in the room to become politically involved in their communities.

"Please don’t say ‘What’s the point of me getting involved?’ Canada is the greatest country in the world and we want to keep it that way and if we want to keep it that way we’ll have to get involved.”

"Remember," she adds, "Noah’s Ark wasn’t built when it was raining.”

And to the applause of everyone in the room, McCallion put an end to speculation that this might be her last term.

“I’m going,” she said, “to be trucking into the next election.”