Three years later he would move back to Fort Garry, which was now named Winnipeg; there he would work in a relative's hardware store for two years. On an 1875 trip to the Rocky Mountains on a coal expedition for the Centennial Exposition with a local geologist on which he was serving as an interpreter, McKenney would gain employment with the Hudson's Bay Company as a clerk. On that same trip he would also pass through Fort Edmonton for the first time. In 1883, he later moved to St. Albert, Alberta, where he opened up a store, one of the first businesses of the settlement. He would operate it until 1903, when he sold the business. In St. Albert he also sat on the town's school board as well serving as license commissioner, postmaster (1886–93), justice of the peace, and police magistrate. He also operated a grist mill and was a construction advocate, assisting in building a bridge in 1887. On January 3, 1885, he and Edmonton businessman Alex Taylor would make the first phone call on the first long distance phone system in the Northwest, from McKenney's store to Taylor's office in Edmonton, away. He also played a part in gaining village status for St. Albert, which was incorporated in December 1899. In 1903, again due to ill health, he would travel once again, this time taking a trip of the Pacific coast, through the neighbouring province of British Columbia, then through the United States, passing through Washington, Oregon, and California. He would later return to Canada and this time settle in the city Edmonton, close to his former residence of St. Albert. In Edmonton, McKenney was a prominent property owner, owning farms and houses around the city. He was also the original owner and namesake of the McKenney building, a historical 3 story brick faced office building built in Edmonton in 1912 and located at 10187 104 Street. It was originally leased out by a school supply company, a foot ware store, and a fruit market. Political career A lifelong Liberal, McKenney was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1905 Alberta general election in the provincial electoral district of St. Albert. In this election he won as an Independent Liberal, but joined the Liberal caucus. After redistribution of riding boundaries in the 1909 Alberta general election McKenney was returned to the assembly by acclamation