Peter Francis Trent (born 5 January 1946) is an English-born Canadian businessman and politician. He was mayor of

Westmount Westmount () is a city on the Island of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal, with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public li ...

, 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), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, Leicestershire, England, Trent and his family immigrated to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

to work for a chemical company in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. 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 Y ...

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

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

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

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. After the city of Westmount was amalgamated with Montreal in 2002, 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 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 ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trent, Peter 1946 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Academic staff of Concordia University English emigrants to Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Mayors of Westmount, Quebec McMaster University alumni People from Loughborough 20th-century mayors of places in Quebec 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec