HEY, HEY, HEY, GOOD BYE — FRANK MCKENNA is a go-to guru for retiring politicians. Former Cabinet Minister LISA RAITT calls him the godfather of every Cabinet minister leaving the Hill. Over the years, the former New Brunswick premier has met with “dozens and dozens and dozens” of leaders on their way back to private life. — Exit interviews: “I spent time with former Nova Scotia Premier STEPHEN MCNEIL before he left. I was aware Newfoundland and Labrador Premier ANDREW FUREY was probably headed for the exits. And P.E.I. Premier DENNIS KING,” he tells Playbook. “And then prime ministers and a lot of ministers of the Crown.” McKenna emphasizes that this is nothing special. He credits his own mentors for guiding the way: PETER LOUGHEED, former premier of Alberta; former Prime Minister BRIAN MULRONEY; former Ontario Premier DAVID PETERSON. “The day I started thinking about life after politics was the day after I retired,” says McKenna, whose decade as premier started in 1987 with a sweep of every seat in New Brunswick. “It wasn't until I had a chance to actually exit office and open the curtain that I saw what was out there.” — Before and after: Recovering politicians have to learn that being elected is not the only way to add value, McKenna says. “When you first start, you just feel a huge emptiness and all that adrenaline that was propelling you every single day is drained away.” Most people will just sleep for a few days, which he endorses: “You don't have many chances in your life to have a period of nothing on your agenda.” — Escape plan: McKenna decided if he was going to accept so many coffee invitations, he needed to think analytically about transition. “I created a checklist that I go through with everybody I talk to,” he says. “I’ve got all kinds of practical advice.” He rhymes off instructions over the phone. Shake out the cobwebs: “Get the job out of your mind. You need to really get out of Dodge to do that. I really highly recommend people take that trip that they've always wanted to take to some exotic place in the world. When you come back, your head will be in a much better place.” Take time with family: “Enjoy a period of reflection.” Find a perch: “Almost everybody I talked to has been well supported with administrative staff and an office, and sometimes a driver and people doing scheduling and so on.” He suggests seeking a retainer with a firm or institution that can help with logistics. Support your brand: “It's not perpetual, and that means to write op-ed pieces or do interviews, but stay relevant.” → Cautionary tale: Despite McKenna’s advice, former PM JEAN CHRÉTIEN called him six months after leaving office: “I didn't think I’d get any offers, so I took them all. Now I have no time.” McKenna tells everyone: “That's exactly what not to do.” Here’s just a little more of our conversation — text that has been edited for length and clarity. It must be a very difficult thing after you leave public life to resist the temptation to return. Well, it is. And it's like malaria — it's in your bloodstream. Sometimes it comes popping out hard. I've come close on a number of occasions — really close. So it is there. We get rusty quickly in this life. Being a politician is a real skill set. People need to think pretty carefully before they go back in for sure. Do you have any memory of your first day out of politics? I do remember it. It is an extraordinary sense of emptiness. If you believe in what you're doing — I believed in it profoundly. Every day I woke up and jumped out of bed, I felt like I was making the world a better place. I might have been misguided in that view, but that's what I thought. When you wake up the day after, you don't have that same passion to drive you, you don't know what's in front of you, and you don't know how you're going to be adding value. So it's an empty feeling. Did you talk to JUSTIN TRUDEAU? I didn't. Unfortunately, because my diplomatic skills have waned as years go by, I did offer him some advice in the press that he should leave. I didn't speak to him directly, but I would have said: “You know, 10 years is an approximate shelf life. In the case of being the prime minister of Canada, it's almost a terminal date. Incumbent governments and leaders are losing all over the world, so you should not be vain enough to think you can outrun the law of gravity.” I saw him talking about making his kids’ lunches, so perhaps he’s read your advice. He'll have lots to do. People always do. And you can have a great afterlife. Mulroney, as you know, didn't leave on quite as high a note, but he had an extraordinary post-prime ministership. His funeral, I thought, was an extraordinary celebration of a life well lived. So there is life after. And Trudeau will end up having history written in a way that will be more favorable to him than it is today. Want to add advice to McKenna’s list? We’re all ears. | 
