By Pepper Parr

July 29th, 2016

BURLINGTON, ON

There is a difference in interviewing the local MPP who sits as a back bencher with a couple of pet projects and interviewing a Minister of the Crown who has also been appointed to Treasury Board and runs a Ministry that has three sections: Tourism, Sports and Culture; each important to not only the well-being of the people in the province but significant sectors of the provincial economy as well.

MPP Eleanor McMahon at her first public meeting after being named a Minister of the crown in Ontario.

It has been almost a world wind experience for Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon and it is far from over. Recruited to the Ontario Liberal Party by Kathleen Wynne personally, McMahon went on to win the riding that had been held for more than 70 years by Conservatives. She brought the ability to connect with people on a deep personal level that was sincere and recognized immediately by people she met with. She is a formidable campaigner.

The public didn’t know all that much about McMahon other than a little about a personal tragedy in her life and a strong commitment to teaching the public to share the road with cyclists.

Her maiden speech in the legislature was pretty standard. Where the city might have seen some of the energy and drive was in August of 2014 when she worked tirelessly to bring the province onside and involve Burlington in the ODRAP – Ontario Disaster Relief and Assistance Program that matched the close to $1 million raised by citizens to aid the more than 300 home owners whose houses were severely damaged.

When the Burlington Community Foundation (since renamed the Burlington Foundation) needed a place for people to be able to donated funds, McMahon was on the telephone and within a very short period of time convinced the national offices of the United Way to let Burlington use their web site. Connections at that level are what McMahon is very good at- she had once worked at the United Way national office.

She can be partisan, listen to her at a campaign meeting, she has a positive streak that exceeds that of Mary Poppins
McMahon works from a strong relationship base with people – but don’t cross her. She has a strong Irish streak in her that remembers. That Irish streak is conditioned by a strong Catholicism and rooted in a family that is very very close. You don’t see much of the family all that often but they are there.

When the Premier let it be known that she was going to change some of the names on the Cabinet room chairs McMahon’s name got mentioned in the media. The Gazette didn’t see McMahon as Cabinet material but when the list came out her name was there.
We saw McMahon as more of a booster and wished that she would come across as more of a legislator.

There are many people that grow into opportunities that let latent skills and talent come to the surface. That seems to be the kind of experience McMahon is having.

McMahon took to a loom during a tour of the Art Gallery. she has an exceptionally strong working relationship with Member of Parliament Karina Gould – they share a number of public events – they are actually quite a tag team.

The Ministry she was given is a good fit for her. Being made a Minister of the crown brought with it a steep learning curve. As she worked her way through the briefing binders we began to see an Eleanor McMahon that hadn’t been visible before.

She wasn’t exactly a policy wonk but she wasn’t going to be a wall flower either. All the signs so far point to a woman who has rolled up her sleeves and getting into the job.

She jumped right in and became a team player picking up where her predecessor in the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and Culture had left off. In unveiling the province’s first detailed culture strategy the public heard her close to flawless French and her ability to get her tongue around the language the aboriginal world speaks when she unveiled the strategy.

“I am all about words” said McMahon in an exclusive interview with the Gazette.

McMahon wears a quiet smile as she takes part in a cheque presentation during the massive community effort to raise funds for 2014 flood victims. McMahon was a quiet, unrelenting advocate for the city.

In commenting on the province’s decision to sell a portion of Hydro McMahon said the government wanted to see a “tougher, tighter” corporation and having the private sector at the table would result in a more responsive corporation. That’s not something a lot of people in the province are going to agree with.

The belief that “change for the better” is what will improve life for everyone works itself into just about everything McMahon does.

She has bought into the advice a former head of the Toronto Dominion Bank, Ed Clarke gave the Premier when he said: Ontario needs to “catch up to keep up” which has led the provincial government into spending $160 billion on improving the transportation system so that goods and people can move efficiently.

McMahon spoke of thinking “beyond the election cycle” which is good news copy but the voters are always the big elephant in the room.

McMahon is a big picture person. Asked what the Brexit (the United Kingdom pulling out of the European Union) decision is going to mean she will tell you that isolationism is not the answer. Partnering with as many countries as possible is what will keep the Ontario economy strong as it adjusts to the changes taking place in the province’s economy and how it fits into a larger North American and world economy.

McMahon will tell you of the trade mission the Premier recently took to Israel that resulted in an agreement that will see students from that country working at the McMaster University DeGroote School of Business here in Burlington.

MPP Eleanor McMahon and MP Karina Gould do a Cogeco interview at a public meting that dealt with how Burlington would welcome the Syria refugees coming to Canada

A number of months ago McMahon sat in on a discussion with parents who had older autistic children. There are a lot of programs in place for younger autistic children but once they pass the age of 18 there is literally nothing for them.

The group of parents took part in a day long exercise to think through just what the problem was and what might be possible in the way of programs for autistic people who are in their forties with parents who are in the 60’s and 70’s.
When the parents are gone – what happens to these now middle aged people who need help? They fall between the cracks which terrifies the parents.

McMahon listened, and then worked with the group to obtain a Trillium grant that would allow them to do some research and come up with ideas and possible approaches to providing the services these autistic people need.

The provincial government has begun to make changes in the services available to young autistic people. We will follow those developments.

The practice of large corporations basically paying for access to Cabinet Ministers was brought up. McMahon said she was not on the committee that put forward the recommendations the Premier appears to want to follow.

She is however now a Cabinet Minister and there are people who will want to bend her ear.  McMahon will tell you she will be transparent and adds that unions and corporations and individuals have a right to be heard. “Why shut them out?” she asked.

She points to the large sums that were raised by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in his drive to win the Democratic presidential nomination and adds that the American’s have Super Pacs – which are organizations created to raise funds and make them available to candidates that share their views.

I don’t think Ontario has heard the last of how political parties are going to handle the raising of funds to pay for their elections. It was interesting to note that McMahon didn’t talk in terms of spending less on elections.

During the 2014 flood McMahon was out into the community meeting people and listening to their concerns. she was instrumental in convincing the provincial government to march the funds raised locally. She didn’t do it all by herself but when she made those phone calls few could say no to her.

The Ministry McMahon leads has a deputy minister and four associate deputy ministers; that run a Ministry that may not seem all that vital on the surface. Tourism, culture and sports reach into every municipality in the province. It is clear to those who have thought it through that culture is an economic driver and that it is tourism that brings people to Ontario.

Canada will begin its sesquicentennial celebration in 2017 – the federal government will go nutso on this one and Ontario will be running alongside them to make the celebration a sound success.

McMahon was recently appointed to the Treasury Board – that’s the table at which the financial decisions are made. No fuzzy thinking at that table. Someone has recognized the McMahon talent.

Ontario Place is part of the file McMahon manages. She recalled riding the water slides when she was younger and wants to see the Children’s Park, which were closed some time ago, put back into Ontario Place that is going through a major upgrade.
The Toronto International Film Festival is something she has a small hand in and she is interested seeing an NHL Winter Classic take place in our part of the world.

And she mentioned that she is working on seeing more “tailgate” parties during Grey Cup week
Expect McMahon to promote local festivals; next year the promoters of the Lowville Festival might manage to get her to one of their events.

McMahon gets out into the community – she speaks straight from her hart and listen with both ears. She can also glam up when she needs to – but for the most part what you see it shat you get.

The demands of the job are close to brutal. McMahon has a very supportive family and a tight circle of friends and associates that are there to help out.

Most weekends she finds herself taking a shopping bag filled with Briefing books to her cottage where she can share time with her family, refresh and get caught up.

There is more to tell you about what McMahon wants to get done and how she thinks she can “change for the better”.