Speaker: ELEANOR MCMAHON, President & CEO, Trans Canada Trail
Topic: The gift of resiliency. How do we find it in challenging times, and how does it enable us to channel tragic events into lasting change?
Eleanor McMahon has been President and CEO of the Trans Canada Trail since March 2020, bringing to the role over 30 years of experience in senior management, public affairs and advocacy. An active outdoor enthusiast and passionate advocate for the safety of cyclists, she founded the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in 2007 following the death of her husband OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart in a cycling collision in 2006.
The Coalition has become one of North America’s leading cycling and urban mobility organizations. Since 2007 it has achieved significant public policy and legislative change in Ontario and in Canada: the largest investment in cycling infrastructure in Ontario history ($150M) and Ontario’s first Cycling Strategy in over 20 years (#CycleON in 2013) as an outcome of the Coroner’s Review into Cycling Deaths (2012) which Eleanor called for and participated in as the only NGO leader. Eleanor also initiated legislative reform to target motorists who drive while suspended, leading to the passage of Greg’s Law (2008). Eleanor currently sits on the Coalition’s Board of Directors.
Ms. McMahon started her career on Parliament Hill and served in a number of roles including Press Secretary to the Right Honorable Jean Chrétien. Roles in the private and not for profit sectors followed including Vice-President at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Vice-President at United Way Ottawa, Director of Public Affairs at Petro-Canada and at the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
In 2014 Eleanor channelled her road safety work into the public service realm and was elected as the first Liberal MPP for Burlington in 71 years. She was then appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and then as President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital Government. She is fluently bilingual.
While elected she successfully engineered two other legislative changes in support of cycling and road safety: Bill 31 (2015) the One Metre Safe Passing Law, and in 2016 Bill 213 which created Canada’s toughest Careless Driving laws.
Eleanor is active on several Boards including the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Canada Games Niagara Board as the Federal Representative.
