Peter Kent,
PCThe Queen's Privy Council for Canada , sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council,
is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign...
, MP (born July 27, 1943 in
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is
Minister of StateA Minister of State is a junior cabinet minister in the Canadian Cabinet, usually given specific responsibilities to assist a senior cabinet minister in a specific area....
for Foreign Affairs of the Americas in the Canadian Cabinet. Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television News, a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
TV network. He has previously worked as a news editor, producer, foreign correspondent and news anchor on Canadian and American television networks.
In the
Canadian federal election, 2008The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
on October 14, 2008, he ran for the
Conservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
and was elected as the
member of parliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for the riding of
ThornhillThornhill is a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
and on October 30, 2008 was named Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas).
Peter Kent is the son of Parker Kent, a long-time employee of the Southam Newspaper Group who retired as associate editor at the
Calgary HeraldThe Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
.
Peter Kent,
PCThe Queen's Privy Council for Canada , sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council,
is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign...
, MP (born July 27, 1943 in
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is
Minister of StateA Minister of State is a junior cabinet minister in the Canadian Cabinet, usually given specific responsibilities to assist a senior cabinet minister in a specific area....
for Foreign Affairs of the Americas in the Canadian Cabinet. Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television News, a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
TV network. He has previously worked as a news editor, producer, foreign correspondent and news anchor on Canadian and American television networks.
In the
Canadian federal election, 2008The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
on October 14, 2008, he ran for the
Conservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
and was elected as the
member of parliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for the riding of
ThornhillThornhill is a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
and on October 30, 2008 was named Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas).
Background
Peter Kent is the son of Parker Kent, a long-time employee of the Southam Newspaper Group who retired as associate editor at the
Calgary HeraldThe Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
. His younger brother,
Arthur KentArthur Kent is a Canadian television journalist. He rose to international prominence during the 1991 Persian Gulf War during which he acquired the nickname "The Scud Stud"...
, is also a journalist, known in the first Gulf War as the "scud stud".
Kent has been married to Cilla, a former print journalist with South Africa's Argus group for over 26 years. They have a daughter, Trilby who published her first novel,
Medina Hill, in October 2009.
Kent is a member of the board of
Canadian Coalition for DemocraciesThe Canadian Coalition for Democracies is a Canadian political action organization that advocates greater support for Israel, India and minorities in the Muslim world such as Christians, Copts, Bahá'ís, Assyrians and Ismailis. The CCD professes to maintain a non-partisan, issue-oriented approach...
and has represented them at public events such as a demonstration supporting publication of the controversial Muhammed cartoons.
Kent is a member of the
Canadian Broadcast Hall of FameThe Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, started in 1982, recognizes Canadians in broadcasting or entertainment related industries who have "achieved outstanding success in helping raise industry standards from a material or humanitarian standpoint."...
and a past member of the Board of the
Academy of Canadian Cinema and TelevisionThe Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize over 4,000 Canadian film industry and television industry professionals...
. He is also a Founding Supporter of Canadians for Defence and Security and a member of the board of the revitalized
ParticipACTIONParticipACTION is a national non-profit organization, originally launched as a Canadian government program in the 1970s, to promote healthy living and physical fitness...
. He is a board member of
Honest ReportingHonestReporting is a watchdog organisation that monitors the media for what it considers bias against Israel...
Canada, and co-Chair of Ontario Cabinet for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Kent was named the recipient of the 2006 President’s Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association of Canada (RTNDA). The President’s Award is presented annually to honour individuals, stations, companies or groups who have brought distinction to, or have made major contributions to the broadcast news industry. He is a four-time Emmy nominee and the recipient of the
Robert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician. He was a younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and acted as one of his advisers during his presidency. From 1961 to 1964, he was the U.S...
Memorial Award.
Journalism
Kent began his career as a radio journalist in the early 1960s. He then moved to television, joining Calgary station
CFCN-TVCFCN-TV is a Canadian television station, broadcasting in Calgary, Alberta. It is owned and operated by the CTV Television Network a division of CTVglobemedia. The station also operates a semi-satellite in Lethbridge....
in 1965 and subsequently worked for
CBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Overview:CBC Television provides a complete 24-hour network schedule of news, sports, entertainment and children's programming, in most cases feeding the same programming at the same local times...
,
CTVCTV is a Canadian English language television network. It is Canada's largest privately owned network, the main television asset of CTVglobemedia, one of the country's largest media conglomerates...
, Global,
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
and the
Christian Science Monitors television newscast.
In the 1966, he went to South East Asia to cover the Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
as a freelance foreign correspondentForeign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
. He stayed on to cover the final withdrawal of US troops from VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
in 1973 and covered the fall of CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
to the Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the totalitarian ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan....
in 1975. Kent returned to Canada and worked as a producer for The National
and, in 1976, he became the broadcast's anchor after Lloyd RobertsonLloyd Robertson, OC, LL.D is the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening newscast, CTV News with Lloyd Robertson.-Radio:...
moved to CTV NewsCTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name CTV News is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations, which are closely tied to the national news division....
.
In 1978 Kent agreed to step down as anchor of The National after he submitted an intervention to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) 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. Kent's complaint involved messages conveyed through the then CBC President
Al JohnsonAlbert Wesley Johnson, CC is a former Canadian civil servant, former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, professor in the department of political science at the University of Toronto, and author....
from the
Prime Minister's OfficeThe Prime Minister's Office is a small department which provides advice to a Prime Minister in some countries:* Office of the Prime Minister * Office of the Prime Minister * British Prime Minister's Office...
that resulted in cancellation of a speech by Premier
René LévesqueRené Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, Canada , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party, and 23rd Premier of Quebec...
and coverage of a speech by Prime Minister
Pierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC , was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984.Pierre Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s,...
. As a result of his intervention and descent from The National anchor desk, Kent accepted assignment to the newly created African Bureau of the CBC, located in Johannesburg.
The CBC subsequently created protocols to govern Prime Ministerial access to the public broadcaster. They remain in effect today; the most recent example the speech made to the country by Prime Minister
Jean ChrétienJoseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , is a Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003, and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 2003.-Early life:Chrétien was born on January 11, 1934 in Shawinigan, Quebec, as the 18th of 19...
on the eve of the
1995 Quebec referendumThe 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
. Kent returned briefly in 1978 to testify at a grievance hearing initiated by an unsuccessful anchor candidate who complained that
Knowlton NashCyril Knowlton Nash, OC, O.Ont , commonly known as Knowlton Nash, is a journalist, author, and former long-serving senior anchorman of CBC Television's flagship news program, The National...
, the vice-president of CBC News, had appointed himself to succeed Kent. In that testimony Kent -- the first journalist to anchor The National
-- supported Nash's credentials.
Kent returned to Canada and the CBC in 1982 as a founding producer, correspondent and occasional co-host of The Journal
, hosted by Barbara FrumBarbara Frum, OC was a Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Personal life:...
and Mary Lou FinlayMary Lou Finlay is a Canadian radio and television journalist, best known for hosting various programs on CBC Radio and CBC Television.Finlay graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1967 with a BA in English and French literature...
.
In 1984 Kent moved back to NBC serving in Miami, Washington and New York bureaus and as the US network's senior EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an correspondent in the late 1980s, winning four Emmy nominations with the network. He then reported for and was back-up anchor for John Hart and John Palmer at the Christian Science Monitors
World Monitor television news service. One of Kent's feature report series - on challenges in American inner cities - was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Award.
Kent returned to Canada to join Global News in 1992, and was the anchor of its flagship news program
First NationalFirst National was a Canadian television newscast, which aired on the Global Television Network's stations in Ontario and Manitoba from 1994 to 2001. It was also seen in Quebec after Global launched there in 1997...
until 2001. He then anchored the business news show
MoneyWise on Global and Prime.
Politics
In the
Canadian federal election, 2006The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, Kent ran as the
Conservative Party of CanadaThe Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
candidate in the
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
riding of St. Paul's. He placed second with 25.76% of the vote against the incumbent,
Carolyn BennettCarolyn Ann Bennett, PC, MP is the Member of Parliament for the riding of St. Paul's, a constituency located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was formerly a candidate for its leadership....
of the
LiberalsThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is a major political party in Canada. The party sits between the centre-left and centre of the Canadian political spectrum. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada since the 2006 federal election...
(50.25%), and ahead of
Paul SummervillePaul Summerville is a Canadian, born in London, England, raised in Toronto, Canada who has held senior positions as an economist, equity research director, and Asian regional head at several prominent global investment banks , and Wellington...
of the
New Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a social democratic political party in Canada. In the Canadian House of Commons, it holds a centre-left position in the Canadian political spectrum. The leader of the federal NDP is Jack Layton...
(19.19%).
Kent ran again for the Conservatives in the
2008 electionThe 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, this time in the riding of
ThornhillThornhill is a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
, and was elected.
External links