Frank McKenna's New Brunswick legacy?

Spending the Christmas week in Toronto staying at the Royal York hotel. Walking around the hallowed halls of this place I recalled that former Premier Frank McKenna spent a lot of time here while he was the head lad for the Government of New Brunswick. He would decamp from Fredericton to the Royal York which became his HQ for pitching Canadian CEOs on the merits of setting up shop in a tiny Atlantic Canadian province which heretofore would have never ended up on their radars.

He had much success wooing the business elite. Dozens of national and international firms invested in New Brunswick during his time and I can trace tens of billions of dollars in GDP since his time in office directly back to his time holding court at the Royal York.

More than 25 years since he was in office, what is the main legacy of McKenna?

Is it the dozens of companies that are still important employers in New Brunswick to this day?

Is it his reputation as a tough leader while in the big chair?

Maybe his management of the provincial finances? That period, 1987-1997, was a turbulent time in Canada as there was a significant recession and the federal government decided to get its debt to GDP ratio of 67% back to something reasonable by slashing transfers and cutting the civil service - both of which hit NB hard. In the McKenna years the debt to GDP ratio increased - but more slowly than any other province except Manitoba. In 1995, 1996 and 1997, GNB ran a slight budget surplus each year (according to RBC Economics).

Or is it his post-Premier work spending millions of dollars to seed R&D and policy efforts (e.g. McKenna Institute) or other activities in the background helping sell the province?

Twenty years ago a bunch of us were debating this and I posed the idea that his greatest legacy would be boosting the self-image of New Brunswick and New Brunswickers. While this may be fading for older folks like me or unknown to anyone under the age of 45, McKenna put a lot of focus on New Brunswick being able to compete. Our companies can compete and win. Our workers can compete and win. Our universities can compete and win. NB the ‘drive thru province’? No, NB has impressive tourism assets. When Moncton was struggling in the late 1980s, what did McKenna say? Moncton takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’.

We went from an attitude of “why would any company want to set up in New Brunswick?” to “why wouldn’t they?”. Why would anyone want to move here to why wouldn’t they?

Attitudes can be stubborn. In the 1950s, my grandmother told her kids that in order to succeed in life they would have to leave NB. “Anyone with any get-up-and-go already got up and left”, she said.

No, McKenna said. If you work hard and take risks you can succeed here and win.

I’m not saying that everything magically changed in the McKenna years. In fact, you could argue that, at least until recently, a lot of folks in leadership roles went back to a negative self-image of New Brunswick and New Brunswickers. I talked to a lot of community leaders in the 2005-2017 timeframe that were back to asking that question “why would anyone or any company ever want to set up here”?

McKenna is still actively promoting his home province. Almost every month there is something with his name attached meant to improve New Brunswick.

What do you think is his legacy in New Brunswick.