He was one of eight siblings, a poor New Brunswick farmboy who scraped his way into university and went on to a storied political career that saw him touted as a potential prime minister and ascend the highest levels of Bay Street finance.
On Saturday, Frank McKenna, the former Canadian ambassador to the United States, pledged $20 million to his alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University (StFX) in Antigonish, N.S.
“The scholarships will be the largest in the country,” McKenna told National Post shortly before the announcement was made public. “The program will be large and prestigious and should attract the strongest students in the country, both academically and in terms of their leadership skills.”
The McKenna Scholarship Program will transcend specific disciplines and be awarded across all StFX faculties , including arts, science and business. McKenna viewed the endowment as a means of making post-secondary education more accessible and encouraged Canadians across the country to consider StFX and other Maritime schools that might not be front of mind for students in major cities.
McKenna, now chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, remains grateful for everything StFX has done in his life and credits the university with setting him on a path to long-lasting career and family success.
“I’ve been hugely blessed in my life. I come from a very poor farming family in New Brunswick, a large family of 10. I was able to go from that background to be honoured as premier of the province of New Brunswick, and later became blessed to become ambassador for Canada,” he said. “I just am hugely grateful for those blessings and I wanted to give back to my country and back to my region.”
McKenna graduated from StFX with a bachelor of arts in 1970 and served as president of the students’ union during his time on campus. His family roots continue to run deep at the Antigonish campus. His wife, children and several of their spouses are alumni. Today, McKenna said, five of his grandchildren are also at the university.
“I’ve got two grandchildren graduating, so I don’t want to diminish: that’s why we’re all here,” he joked ahead of their convocation ceremony in May, where he is to speak. “We’ve had a strong emotional connection to that institution because it’s been a huge part of our lives during our formative years.”
Following his undergraduate studies at StFX, McKenna pursued a graduate degree in political science at Queen’s University and then attended the University of New Brunswick Law School. McKenna built a promising career as a lawyer and is best known for successfully defending boxing champion Yvon Durelle against a murder charge in 1977.
In 1982, McKenna entered provincial politics as a Liberal and won a seat in the New Brunswick legislative assembly. Five years later, McKenna became premier and, true to his word, resigned precisely 10 years after that. Upon leaving public office in 1997 , he spent nearly a decade in the business world, serving on corporate boards and as legal counsel for various law firms.
In 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed McKenna as Canada’s ambassador to the United States, a position he held for just over a year. After Martin’s electoral defeat in January 2006 to then-Conservative leader Stephen Harper, McKenna was widely touted as a potential leader of the Liberal Party, but decided against a run. McKenna remembers his stint in Washington, D.C., fondly to this day.
“As a Canadian, you only really value the country when you’re out of it. When I was in Washington, I used to have ambassadors talking to me every day telling me how lucky I was ’cause I represented Canada, the most envied country in the world,” he recalled. “We as Canadians have to step back from time to time and smell the flowers and understand how blessed we are.”
McKenna’s time in Washington has given him a unique vantage point as bilateral relations with the United States have become increasingly tense following the return of Donald Trump to the White House. McKenna applauded Canadian political leaders across the aisle for navigating this uncertain moment.
“I think it’s no secret that the relationships are fraught at the moment. I like the way that our country is conducting itself; it’s very bipartisan,” McKenna said. He commended Harper, Pierre Poilievre and “our Prime Minister” – Mark Carney – for representing Canadian interests well on the world’s stage.
“The provinces are standing up to be counted and I think the country’s responding to this leadership,” he continued. “We may look back at this as a moment where Canada grew up.”
After leaving politics, McKenna became chairman of Brookfield, a director of Canadian Natural Resources and an executive with TD Bank Group.
For all of McKenna’s professional success, it is life out east that is never far from his mind when asked to contemplate his legacy. Although he splits his time between Ontario and New Brunswick, the latter “is my home.”
“I live in the bigger world, I travel all over the world on business and stuff, but when I’m home in the Maritimes, I just kind of leave the chaos behind. I find that we’re a supportive region,” he said.
“I always feel like we’re brothers and sisters and neighbours and we look after each other. That we’ve got a quality of life that is just enviable. So I’ve never felt a time when I was a Maritimer that I didn’t feel blessed at where I grew up.”
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