35 Facts About Peter Kent

James Peter Kent was born on July 27,1943 and is a former Canadian journalist and former politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Thornhill from 2008 to 2021.

Peter Kent served as Minister of the Environment in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Peter Kent has worked as a news editor, producer, foreign correspondent, and news anchorman on Canadian and American television networks.

Peter Kent's parents were Aileen Marie and Arthur Parker Kent, both now deceased.

The elder Peter Kent was a long-time employee of the Southam Newspaper Group who retired as associate editor of the Calgary Herald.

Peter Kent's younger brother, Arthur, is a journalist, known in the first Gulf War as the "scud stud".

Peter Kent was a writer and book editor, a committed member of the New Democratic Party, and the widow of the UTP editor Rik Davidson.

Peter Kent is married to Cilla, a former print journalist with South Africa's Argus newspaper group for over 26 years.

Peter Kent was a member of the board of Canadian Coalition for Democracies and has represented them at public events such as a demonstration supporting publication of the controversial Muhammed cartoons.

Peter Kent is a member of the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame and a past member of the Board of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Peter Kent is a Founding Supporter of Canadians for Defence and Security and was a member of the board of the revitalized ParticipACTION.

Peter Kent was a board member of the pro-Israel media advocacy group Honest Reporting Canada, and co-Chair of Ontario Cabinet for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Peter Kent began his career as a radio journalist in the early 1960s.

Peter Kent then moved to television, joining Calgary station CFCN-TV in 1965 and subsequently worked for CBC Television, CTV, Global, NBC and The Christian Science Monitor's television newscast.

Peter Kent stayed on to cover the final withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam in 1973 and covered the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge in 1975.

Peter Kent returned to Canada and worked as a producer for CBC's The National and, in 1976, he became the broadcast's anchorman after Lloyd Robertson moved to CTV News.

In 1978 Peter Kent agreed to step down as anchorman of The National after he submitted an intervention to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission recommending that the corporation's licence not be renewed until management created procedures and protocols to prevent political interference in the CBC's editorial decision-making.

Peter Kent's complaint involved messages conveyed through the then CBC President Al Johnson from the Prime Minister's Office that resulted in cancellation of a speech by Premier Rene Levesque and coverage of a speech by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Peter Kent returned briefly in 1978 to testify at a grievance hearing initiated by an unsuccessful anchor candidate who complained that Knowlton Nash, the vice-president of CBC News, had appointed himself to succeed Peter Kent.

Peter Kent returned to Canada and the CBC in 1982 as a founding producer, correspondent and occasional co-host of The Journal, hosted by Barbara Frum and Mary Lou Finlay.

In 1984 Peter Kent moved to NBC serving in Miami, Washington and New York bureaus and as the US network's senior European correspondent in the late 1980s, winning four Emmy nominations with the network.

Peter Kent then reported for and was back-up anchorman for John Hart and John Palmer at The Christian Science Monitor's World Monitor television news service.

Peter Kent returned to Canada to join Global News in 1992, and was the anchorman of its flagship news program First National until 2001.

Peter Kent then anchored the business news show MoneyWise on Global and Prime.

Peter Kent ran again for the Conservatives in the 2008 election, this time in the riding of Thornhill, and was elected, defeating incumbent Susan Kadis by 5200 votes.

Peter Kent was named to the junior cabinet post of Minister of State of Foreign Affairs several weeks after the election.

In November 2011, Peter Kent participated in the Durban Conference and in December of the same year announced that Canada would formally begin the process to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Peter Kent claimed that the only way for Canada to avoid paying $14 billion of carbon offset penalties for failing to meet its Kyoto commitments was to withdraw, although there is no mechanism for fines in Kyoto, and Canada could have joined countries such as Japan that stayed in Kyoto without accepting new targets.

Peter Kent's statement was later contrasted by a "secret" Environment Canada presentation released under FOI.

Peter Kent was an advocate of improving the Species At Risk Act, in particular making it apply to whole ecosystems rather than just individual species.

Peter Kent has named his accomplishments as being wastewater regulation, changes to the Species at Risk Act and overseeing greenhouse gas regulations for vehicle emissions, regulation of Canada's coal-fired electricity sector and banning the construction of any new coal-fired generating units.

Peter Kent criticized the Harper government for drawing up an "enemies list" of uncooperative bureaucrats and hostile stakeholders.

Peter Kent has since been re-elected in both the 2015 and 2019 elections.

Peter Kent announced on November 23,2020, that he would not be running in the next federal election.

Peter Kent left office on August 15,2021, when parliament was dissolved for the 2021 Canadian federal election.