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| Affiliation | Liberal |
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| Name | Frank McKenna |
| Address | 280 Woodstock Road
Fredericton, New Brunswick , Canada |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
January 19, 1948
(76 years)
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| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Modifed | Campari_007
Jan 19, 2021 11:33pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, QC, PC, ONB is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006, and as Premier of New Brunswick from 1987 to 1997.
Frank McKenna was raised in the home of his grandparents who lived adjacent to his parents, because his large family could not be wholly housed in his parents' home. After completing high school in Sussex, New Brunswick, he completed a bachelor's degree at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He began graduate studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, but after working for a stint with Allan MacEachen he took MacEachen's advice that most politicians are lawyers and enrolled in law school at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. After he obtained a law degree, he moved to Chatham, New Brunswick, and began the practice of law. He became famous and something of a folk hero as the defence solicitor in the high-profile murder case of famous New Brunswick boxing champion, Yvon Durelle.
A few years later, he entered provincial politics and won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in the 1982 election to represent Chatham. He became leader of the provincial Liberals in 1985, and won one of the largest electoral victory in Canadian history in 1987 when his party won every seat in the legislature.
McKenna's term in office was viewed mostly as a success. His key priority throughout his term was job creation and he was known to say that the "best social program we have is a job." He encouraged small business growth and tried to entice large companies to invest in the province with tax incentives, often directly calling individual professionals to urge them to bring their talents to New Brunswick. Another of his strategies was to raise the collective self confidence of New Brunswickers, which he believed would increase productivity. He introduced a sophisticated public relations operation which included the use of controversial video news releases. He was criticized for increasing the number of communications personnel on the government payroll but countered this complaint by pointing out that the primary government communications agency, Communications New Brunswick, had been depoliticized. Communications New Brunswick had been responsible to the Premier's chief of staff in past governments and McKenna made it report to the head of the civil service. He was also criticized for creating a toll free telephone number to the premier's office which had the number 1-800-MCKENNA, the number was functional throughout North America and was used for both New Brunswick constituents and business interests that were considering moving to the province.
Believing ten years was long enough for a premier to hold office, and having pledged to serve such a term when first elected, McKenna resigned in 1997 - 10 years to the day of the 1987 election.
After leaving office McKenna moved to Cap-Pélé, New Brunswick, near Moncton, and returned to the practice of law and sat on numerous corporate boards.
On January 5, 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin's office confirmed that McKenna would be the 21st Ambassador to the United States. On January 14, the posting was formally announced and would be effective on March 1. McKenna became the Ambassador on March 8 when U.S. President George W. Bush accepted his credentials.
As Ambassador, McKenna attracted more media attention than most of his recent predecessors on both sides of the border. In the U.S. his message was one of dispelling common urban legends and misconceptions about Canada, while in Canada he urged Canadians to be more understanding of the American people and culture, particularly following what he argued is their understandable sensitivity after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On January 25, 2006, McKenna offered his resignation as Ambassador, writing to Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper that he wished to be relieved of his duties, but offering to stay on until his successor is chosen. He was succeeded as ambassador by Michael Wilson on March 13, 2006.
Since leaving politics in 1997, McKenna served for a brief time on the Security Intelligence Review Committee. He had been touted several times as a potential Atlantic Canadian minister in the cabinets of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. He expressed some interest in running in the 2004 federal election but announced he would not do so because of the lack of an available riding in the Moncton, New Brunswick area. After resigning the premiership of New Brunswick, McKenna was identified as a potential future leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. A poll released on August 23, 2005, commissioned by the Toronto Star, showed that McKenna was the top choice of the public to succeed Prime Minister Paul Martin.
On January 30, 2006, McKenna confirmed earlier reports that he was not running for the Liberal leadership to replace Paul Martin, who announced his resignation as party leader on the January 23, 2006 election night. He explained his decision by saying that he did not want "his life to become consumed by politics."
Frank McKenna was appointed as Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group effective May 1, 2006.
Adapted from Wikipedia |
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