Frank McKenna

McKenna eyeing Liberal leadership: source
9 October
Canada ‘ punching below’ its weight in aid — McKenna
Canada has fallen behind too many other nations in providing aid to developing countries, Frank McKenna says.
“I would like to see us stop punching below our weight,” the former Liberal premier of New Brunswick and Canadian ambassador to the United States told a Halifax dinner Wednesday night. Mr. McKenna said Canada dedicates only 0.28 per cent of its budget to helping developing countries.
The Hill Times, May 14th, 2007
Libs shut down their highly-touted renewal commission
Some criticize Grits for closing up renewal commission policy shop, but federal Liberals say renewal commission has run its course.
Some of the task force chairs included former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan, newly-nominated Liberal candidate and son of a former prime minister Justin Trudeau, constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne, astronaut Marc Garneau, journalist Andrew Cohen, former ministers David Collenette, Martin Cauchon and Tony Valeri and former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna.
16 October 2006
McKenna urges missile defence
Liberals entreated to drop opposition
OTTAWA – The Liberal party should reconsider its opposition to ballistic missile defence in the wake of North Korea’s nuclear bomb test, according to prominent Liberal Frank McKenna, Canada’s former ambassador to Washington.
In a submission to the party’s renewal commission, Mr. McKenna “strongly urges” a reopened debate on participating in the U.S. ballistic missile defence plan, partly on the grounds that Canada must not be seen as “a free rider” on the United States.
Mr. McKenna also said Canada must define itself by more than a comparison to the United States.
“It must not engage in endless hand-wringing by juxtaposing itself against the United States. Our pride and self-esteem should be a manifestation of our nationhood. It has nothing to do with our relationship with the United States.” He called for a huge expansion of Canada’s diplomatic presence in the United States, “in every state in the union and in every major American city.”
The former New Brunswick premier cited the extraordinary cost of the softwood-lumber issue alone, saying, “It is obvious that a successful lobbying effort at the grassroots level in the United States could have saved untold amounts of money.”
2 March 2006
McKenna chides former Liberal bosses for anti-U.S. rhetoric
Canada’s outgoing ambassador to the United States criticized the former Liberal government for its “offensive” anti-American tone during the election campaign, saying it had a negative impact on relations.
Frank McKenna said the Liberals behaved in a “sanctimonious” way in regards to their attack on the U.S. position on climate change. [He] also said both countries were close to getting a softwood lumber deal but the election call made it impossible.
Frank McKenna resigns as ambassador to U.S.
Updated Wed. Jan. 25 2006 9:34 PM ET
He informed prime minister-designate Stephen Harper of his decision on Tuesday, Canadian Embassy officials in Washington said Wednesday. In his two-page letter to Harper, McKenna asked to be relieved of his duty, adding he shared a mutual commitment to Canada with Harper and that he would have had no difficulty working with a Conservative government. However, “he believes that it would compromise the position of the ambassadorship” were he to stay on, CTV’s Joy Malbon — who obtained a copy of the letter — said on Newsnet’s Mike Duffy Live.
Earlier Wednesday in Washington, McKenna brushed off the question when reporters asked him about his future.
Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed McKenna to the important diplomatic post just less than a year ago.
30 August 2005
McKenna warns trade rules could be unravelling
Updated Tue. Aug. 30 2005 6:25 AM ET
(CTV) Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna, says the rules governing the largest commercial relationship in the world aren’t being respected.
McKenna made the comment Monday at the annual gathering of eastern premiers and New England governors in St. John’s, Nfld., where the long-standing cross-border dispute over softwood lumber overshadowed much of the talks.
The former New Brunswick premier says he and other architects of the original free trade agreement with the U.S. would have been very reluctant to sign on if they thought those rules would be ignored.
The U.S. has been arguing that Canada unfairly subsidizes its forestry sector.
21 April 2005
Newt Gingrich sorry for comments about Canada
Outspoken American conservative Newt Gingrich has apologized for saying this week that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States from Canada. Gingrich, a former Republican speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives, retracted the comments on Wednesday after Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna sent him a letter
13 January 2005
McKenna Carries Lots of Corporate Baggage
By Charlie Smith
Duff Conacher, coordinator of the Ottawa-based public-interest group Democracy Watch, has claimed that the pending appointment of Frank McKenna as ambassador to the United States reflects how “corporate-driven” the federal Liberal government has become under Prime Minister Paul Martin. McKenna, a former New Brunswick premier, has sat on 15 corporate boards since leaving public office in 1997. He is also listed as a member of the Canadian advisory board of the Carlyle Group, a private investment firm linked to political and business heavyweights on both sides of the border.
“You don’t appoint someone like that without sending a clear signal,” Conacher told the Straight. “Even if he [McKenna] cuts his ties, the fact that Martin has chosen somebody who has tied himself so much into the U.S. and Canadian corporate interest is a clear sign that Martin has no problem with his government being corporate-driven–and with corporations having undue access and influence.”
McKenna is chair of CanWest Global Communications Corp., which paid him $150,000 in cash and deferred share units last year. CanWest Global owns the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers, the Global TV network, the Vancouver Courier, the North Shore News, the Now community papers, the Delta Optimist, the Richmond News, and the National Post, as well as daily newspapers in several other Canadian cities.