Frank McKenna
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His Excellency the Honourable Francis Joseph (Frank) McKenna, P.C., ONB (born January 19, 1948 in Apohaqui, New Brunswick, Canada) is a Canadian politician and diplomat, and current Canadian Ambassador to the United States. He served as Premier of New Brunswick from 1987-1997.
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| Rank: | 27th | |
| Term of Office: | October 27, 1987 - October 13, 1997 | |
| Predecessor: | Richard Hatfield | |
| Successor: | Ray Frenette | |
| Date of Birth: | January 19, 1948 | |
| Place of Birth: | Apohaqui, New Brunswick | |
| Spouse: | Julie McKenna | |
| Profession: | Lawyer, Business Executive | |
| Political Party: | Liberal | |
Frank McKenna obtained a law degree and moved to the Liberal stronghold of Chatham, New Brunswick. As the defense attorney in the high-profile murder case of famous New Brunswick boxing champion, Yvon Durelle, he gained wide publicity. A few years later, he entered provincial politics in 1982 when he was elected to the New Brunswick legislative assembly for Chatham. He became leader of the provincial Liberals in 1985, and won 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. He encouraged small business growth and tried to entice large companies to invest in the province. He was a master of political image making and control, creating a government paid team of media personnel. They filmed and wrote about numerous government projects and the Premier in a favourable light that were distributed to the various media outlets. Often, the same ribbon-cutting ceremony and the like, would be seen several times in shots taken from different angles with a variety of subtext.
During his lengthy term in office he was criticised for having never dealt with the power of the Irving Family industrial interests that dominate the Province's economy and control three of the Province's four major newspapers.
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 he moved to Cap-Pélé, New Brunswick, near Moncton, and returned to the practice of law and sat on numerous corporate boards. He also served for a brief time on the Canadian Intelligence Review Committee. He is currently the Canadian Ambassador-designate to the United States. He was named to this post, effective March 1, 2005, on January 14, 2005. Upon the announcement he resigned his position as counsel at law firms in Moncton and Toronto as well as all positions on corporate boards including his role as interim chairman of the board of CanWest Global Communications, a post he assumed upon the death of its founder and chairman Israel Asper.
Much media attention was given to his position as a member of the Canadian advisory board of the Carlyle Group. He refuted the relevence of this experience explaining the board had been established some years ago when Carlyle was exploring establishing a Canadian investment fund, McKenna said this venture was abandoned the board had since become inactive.
Since leaving politics in 1997, McKenna has been touted several times as a potential Atlantic Canadian minister in the cabinets of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. McKenna 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.
On January 5, 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin's office confirmed that McKenna would be the next 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.
It is generally believed that, when Prime Minister Paul Martin retires, McKenna would be favourite to succeed him as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
| Preceded by: Richard Hatfield 1970-1987 | Premier of New Brunswick 1987-1997 | Succeeded by: Ray Frenette 1997-1998 |
| Preceded by: Shirley Dysart (interim) 1985 | Leader of the Liberal Party of New Brunswick 1985-1997 | Succeeded by: Ray Frenette (interim) 1997-1998 |