Eleanor McMahon is a seasoned executive with experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors. She spent the early years of her career working on Parliament Hill, including as press secretary to the Rt. Honourable Jean Chrétien. Later, she brought her consensus-building know-how to a variety of other roles including Vice-President at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Vice-President at United Way Ottawa. She served as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Burlington from 2014 to 2018 and was appointed to Cabinet as Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and as the President of the Treasury Board.
A passionate advocate for the safety of cyclists, Eleanor founded the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in 2007 following the death of her husband, Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Greg Stobbart killed by a careless driver while on a training ride on his bicycle. Under her leadership, the organization united cycling groups across Ontario to make communities more bicycle-friendly, mobilized municipal leaders across the province, and pressed the Ontario government to toughen the law regarding individuals who drive while suspended. That legislative change, Greg’s Law, passed in 2009. In addition, she led the impetus that resulted in the Coroner’s Review into Cycling Deaths in 2012 which resulted in the 2013 launch of #CycleON, Ontario’s first Bicycle Policy in 20 years.
Her advocacy helped to secure two other pieces of legislation – Ontario’s One Metre Safe Passing Law in 2015, and Careless Driving Cause Death and Bodily Harm, in 2017.
While in Cabinet, she led the cycling file jointly with the Minister of Transport. That same year, she announced a $125 million investment in cycling infrastructure in several communities across Ontario inclusive of $25M to the city of Toronto.
In 2020 at the invitation of the federal Minister of Infrastructure, Eleanor advised the federal government on the development and launch of Canada’s first national Active Transportation Infrastructure Fund which was announced at $400M in 2021.
Following her public service career, Eleanor served as CEO of the Trans Canada Trail and at the University of Waterloo as Vice President University Relations. She continues to serve as a Director on several boards including the Art Gallery of Hamilton where she Chairs the Long-Term Sustainability Committee, and the 2022 Canada Games where she served as the federal appointee. She is currently Chair of the Board of the cycling charity that she launched in her husband’s memory, the Share the Road Cycling Coalition.
Eleanor currently leads her own consulting firm McMahon Public Affairs and Communications, supporting clients and organizations in a variety of sectors across Canada.