SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Honourable Frank McKenna, P.C., Q.C., O.C., O.N.B., and Julie McKenna

Honourable senators, our fellow citizens in the Atlantic provinces and New Brunswick have been hit particularly hard by the geopolitical and economic tensions that we are currently experiencing. However, from time to time, we happen upon leaders who provide hope and give selflessly to the community.

Today, I would like to acknowledge the contributions that Frank and Julie McKenna have made through their charitable organization.

A few weeks ago, we learned that they had made a remarkable donation of $20 million to St. Francis Xavier University. Julie, Frank and their children are all graduates of that university, and I believe that some of our colleagues are as well.

Frank said that when you go to school at St. FX, you get a master’s degree in civility and a PhD in character, which creates a new generation of leaders.

This historic donation to St. FX is not the first that Frank and Julie McKenna have made. They have made donations to every university in New Brunswick, endowing the McKenna Centre for Communications and Public Policy at St. Thomas University, the Frank McKenna School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Mount Allison University, the Centre de leadership Frank McKenna at the Université de Moncton and the McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick, where a $5-million donation from the Frank McKenna Foundation was followed by a $50-million fundraising campaign.

I don’t have enough time to list all of Frank and Julie McKenna’s contributions to other charities, such as food banks, hospices and the Miramichi aquatic centre.

Frank McKenna is always working for the future of the people of New Brunswick, the Atlantic region and Canada. He considers himself a blessed and fortunate man, and he wants to give to future generations.

In my humble opinion as a francophone New Brunswicker, Frank McKenna’s most important contribution was his service as premier. During that time, Premier McKenna and his government enshrined an obligation for New Brunswick in the Canadian Constitution. Section 16(2) of the Charter grants equality of status and equal rights and privileges to New Brunswick’s francophones and anglophones. Equality at last.

I don’t have enough time to point out just how important it is to have people of integrity, generosity and dedication on our side, people like Frank and Julie McKenna.

Long life to you both.

Thank you.