Frank: The Life and Politics of Frank McKenna

Richard Wilbur is the author of The Rise of French New Brunswick and
co-author of Silver Harvest: The Fundy Weirmen’s Story.

With the frequent Toronto-based speculation that New Brunswick’s
former Liberal premier Frank McKenna is eyeing the national party’s
leadership, one might conclude that the timing of this study could be
linked with that rather unlikely scenario. Certainly, journalist Philip
Lee has produced a positive image, largely because he had access to
McKenna’s daily diary, and he conducted lengthy interviews with
McKenna and his closest advisers during his ten years as premier
(1987–97), namely deputy ministers Frances McGuire and to a lesser
extent the late Fernand Landry. Except for succinct comments from
veteran MLA Ray Frenette, who succeeded McKenna as interim premier, Lee
ignores other cabinet members. Considering the fact that McKenna’s 10
years’ premiership was a graphic example of executive-style
government, this lack is understandable. McKenna loathed the
legislature; apart from House Opening and Budget Day, he would stay for
Question Period and then leave matters with Frenette, his efficient
House Leader. McKenna’s working world was his office across the
street, where he put in punishing hours.

The author captures McKenna best in Chapter 7, “The Hustler,” a
30-page account of how he ran a small and often secretive team that
skilfully managed the media, issuing news releases and holding press
conferences informing New Brunswickers (and the Toronto-based
newspapers) about how new call centres were transforming the
province’s economy and creating hundreds of new jobs. Chapter 8,
“Premier Frank,” is the most candid and most objective inasmuch as
it deals with issues that caused the most political fallout thanks
largely to the shrewd efforts of his most effective critic, NDP leader
Elizabeth Weir. These included a wage freeze for the public service;
losing a wrongful-dismissal case involving the former deputy minister of
justice; failed attempts to privatize provincial jails; and, most
difficult of all, cutbacks in hospital services and his long-running
battle with abortion reform crusader Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

The author indulges in considerable padding, notably 21 pages on
McKenna’s Tory predecessor, Richard Hatfield, taken from an excellent
study by two more objective authors. The chapter on McKenna’s most
famous trial (when he successfully defended boxer Yvon Durelle, charged
with murder) was taken from court records, while yet another chapter on
Acadian history is of questionable value. On the other hand, Chapter 6
(“Return to Acadie”) stands out for its detailed account of
McKenna’s difficult role in the failed Meech Lake agreement. By
steadfastly championing Acadians’ right to their language and culture,
he probably aided the rise of the short-lived English-only Confederation
of Regions Party (CoR), which won eight seats and formed the Official
Opposition after the 1991 provincial election.

Regardless of the author’s emphasis, he is successful in conveying
the essence of McKenna—a super-energized politician who sacrificed the
interests of his wife Julie and their sons to the cause of hoisting New
Brunswick out of its historic doldrums. He didn’t succeed, but few if
any of his predecessors tried as hard.