Trail Talk Live: Catch Up Here on Our #Blahs2Ahhhs Speaker Series

Are you tired of feeling a little stuck inside and restless this winter? Getting outside and enjoying the colder weather can actually be really good for your overall health. Fresh air, sunny skies, sparkling snow and the sound of your boots forging new paths through a winter wonderland – what could be better? 

As part of our #Blahs2Ahhhs winter wellness campaign, we recently held the first installment of our speaker series in English: Trail Talk Live! Special guests shared their ideas and insights on how to make the most out of the winter months.  

Watch Trail Talk Live

Meet our special guests! 

Moderated by: Eleanor McMahon 

Eleanor McMahon joined Trans Canada Trail as President & CEO in March 2020, bringing to the role 30 years of experience in senior management, public affairs and advocacy. An active outdoor enthusiast and passionate advocate for cyclist safety, she founded the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in 2007, following the death of her husband, OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart, in a cycling collision. After serving as press secretary to the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, she brought her know-how to a variety of other roles, including as Director of Public Affairs at the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, as Vice-President at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and as Vice-President at United Way Ottawa. She was the MPP for Burlington, Ontario, from 2014 to 2018, and served as Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, as well as President of the Treasury Board. 

Tareq Hadhad 

Tareq is the founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate. Among his many accomplishments, he is the recipient of an EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Atlantic award, was named one of the Top 25 Immigrants in the Maritimes, was selected by Google as a National Hero Case, was awarded RBC’s Top Immigrant Award and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020, and was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. 

Passionate about peace and entrepreneurship, Tareq and his family focus on job creation, utilizing a network of local community members and refugees from across Nova Scotia and Canada to help support the local economy. 

Melanie Vogel 

Melanie Vogel is a solo adventurer who travelled the world extensively before she stepped on the Trans Canada Trail to begin her longest journey to date. Born and raised in Germany, she immigrated to Canada and decided to get to know this country by walking across it.  

On June 2, 2017, Melanie dipped her toes in the Atlantic and thus began a 28,000-km journey that would take her across Canada, from coast to coast to coast! In Manitoba, she was joined by Malo, a yellow husky-lab, who accompanied her for thousands of kilometres, all the way to the conclusion of this epic hike – at the Trail’s west coast Point Zero in Victoria, BC, on November 12, 2022. 

Trans Canada Trail’s Blahs to Ahhhs Winter wellness campaign and Trail Talk Live series is presented by TD Bank Group.