Peter Francis Trent, (born 5 January 1946) is an English-born Canadian businessman and politician. He was mayor of Westmount, Quebec until his retirement in April 2017. He was first elected as councillor in 1983. He served as mayor from 1992 to 2001; he left politics at that time due to the forced merger with the City of Montreal. He again became Mayor of Westmount by acclamation during the 1 November 2009 municipal election. Born in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

, Leicestershire, England, Trent and his family immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

when he was 10. In 1968, at the age of 22 he left

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

to work for a chemical company in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. In 1972, he started his own company (with Raymond Charlebois), PBI/Plastibeton Inc. which he would later sell in 1989 to

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

and Lone Star Industries. From 1982 to 1983, he taught Marketing at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

's Faculty of Commerce and Administration. In 1992, he received a medal marking the 125th anniversary of Canada. In 1994 he was named honorary lieutenant colonel of the

Royal Montreal Regiment The Royal Montreal Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in Westmount, Quebec. It is part of the 2nd Canadian Division's 34 Canadian Brigade Group. Lineage File:RMR Colour.jpg, The regimental colour of The R ...

, and in 1999 honorary colonel. In 2005 he received the decoration of the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

. After the 2002 mergers, Trent resigned from office. He fought for three years for de-mergers as a non-elected official before retiring from politics. He eventually returned to politics and was elected mayor of Westmount in 2009. He retired from the mayor's position in April 2017. He owns the licenses to many worldwide patents, which supplies him with a significant revenue stream, and this has allowed Trent to devote himself to public service. Trent's book about the merger-demerger period in Montreal, ''The Merger Delusion'' was published in the fall of 2012 by McGill-Queen's University Press. The book was shortlisted for the 2012

Shaughnessy Cohen Prize The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writer ...

for Political Writing. He planned to present ideas in the last book that would be the foundation for a debate starting in 2013 about governing the Montreal region. In 2018, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trent, Peter 1946 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Concordia University faculty English emigrants to Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Mayors of Westmount, Quebec McMaster University alumni People from Loughborough