Frank McKenna was appointed Deputy Chair of TD Bank Group on May 1, 2006. He is responsible for supporting the Bank in its customer acquisition strategy, particularly in the area of Wholesale and Commercial Banking. In addition, he represents TD as it works to expand its North American presence as one of the ten largest banks as measured by market capitalization.
Frank has held numerous leadership positions in both the public and private sector. He was Premier of New Brunswick for a decade (1987-1997), having earned three consecutive majority governments, including the historic victory in 1987 of all 58 seats in the legislature. The McKenna government significantly improved the province's standard of living and quality of life. Among its accomplishments, it balanced budgets, pioneered e-government services, attracted innovative industry clusters and improved educational outcomes. Frank also played a central role on the national stage, where among other initiatives, became a lead advocate for the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.
Prime Minister Martin nominated Frank as Canadian Ambassador to the United States of America in 2005, where he was charged to navigate contentious bilateral issues related to trade and security. In 2006, Frank resigned this position upon change of national government.
In the private sector, Frank is in wide demand as a corporate director. Currently he sits on the boards of Canadian Natural Resources and is a lead director at Brookfield Asset Management. He has also been Chairman of the Board of CanWest Global, and lead director at Bank of Montreal, Noranda, Shoppers Drug Mart and General Motors. In addition, he has served on a number of advisory boards including the Carlyle Group, AMEC, UPS and Duke Energy Transmission.
Frank is also an entrepreneur and small-business owner of Glenwood Kitchens, a manufacturer of kitchen cabinets for the Canadian, U.S. and Caribbean market.
A number of institutions and initiatives rely on Frank for leadership and support. He is the 2007 Chairman of the Laureate Selection Committee of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, and has served as National Head of Career Edge and as member of the National Adult Literacy Database. Frank has also been involved in the Saucier Committee on Corporate Governance, C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee, as well as raised funds for the National Ballet School and two major universities.
Frank is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University as well as Queen's University, where he completed his post-graduate degree in political science and the University of New Brunswick Law School. He is the recipient of eight honourary doctorates.
Frank and his wife Julie have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
