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The Honourable Peter Kent PC
Minister of the Environment
In office January 4, 2011 – July 15, 2013
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	John Baird
Succeeded by	Leona Aglukkaq
Chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence
In office October 29, 2013 – February 4, 2016
Minister	Rob Nicholson Jason Kenney Harjit Sajjan
Preceded by	James Bezan
Succeeded by	Robert Nault
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas)
In office November 4, 2008 – January 4, 2011
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of Parliament forThornhill
In office October 14, 2008 – September 20, 2021
Preceded by	Susan Kadis
Succeeded by	Melissa Lantsman
Personal details
Born	James Peter Kent[1] (1943-07-27)July 27, 1943 (age 82) Sussex, United Kingdom[2]
Party	Canadian Future[3]
Other political affiliations	Conservative Party of Canada
Spouse	Cilla Kent
Children	Trilby Kent
Residence(s)	Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Profession	News editor

James Peter KentPC (born July 27, 1943) is a retired Canadian journalist and politician who served as theConservativeMember of Parliament for the riding ofThornhill from 2008 to 2021. He served asMinister of the Environment in thegovernment of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Before entering politics, he was the anchor ofCBC Television'sThe National, and served as the Deputy Editor of theGlobal Television Network, a Canadian TV network. He has worked as a news editor, producer, foreign correspondent, and news anchorman on Canadian and American television networks.

Kent was born inSussex, England in aCanadian Army hospital. Both his parents were serving with the Canadian Army. The family moved to Canada and, after a period inOttawa, settled inMedicine Hat, Alberta. His parents were Aileen Marie (née Fears) and Arthur Parker Kent, both now deceased.^[1] The elder Kent was a long-time employee of theSoutham Newspaper Group who retired as associate editor of theCalgary Herald. Peter Kent's younger brother,Arthur, is also a journalist, known in the firstGulf War as the "scud stud".^[4] Kent has three sisters: Adele, Norma and Susan. Norma was a local news anchor at CBC Windsor for a number of years before becoming co-host of the CBC consumer affairs programmeMarketplace. She continues to work as a journalist. Susan Kent Davidson died of cancer in 2014. She was a writer and book editor, a committed member of the New Democratic Party, and the widow of the UTP editor Rik Davidson.^[5]

Peter Kent is married to Cilla, a former print journalist with South Africa'sArgus newspaper group (aCape Town paper now part of the Irish-basedIndependent News & Media) for over 26 years. They have a daughter, Trilby, who published her first novel,Medina Hill, in October 2009.^[6]

Kent was a member of the board ofCanadian Coalition for Democracies^[7] and has represented them at public events such as a demonstration supporting publication of the controversialMuhammed cartoons.^[8]

Kent is a member of theCanadian Broadcast Hall of Fame and a past member of the Board of theAcademy of Canadian Cinema and Television. He is also a Founding Supporter of Canadians for Defence and Security and was a member of the board of the revitalizedParticipACTION. He was a board member of the pro-Israel media advocacy groupHonest Reporting Canada, and co-Chair of Ontario Cabinet for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.^[9]

Kent began his career as a radio journalist in the early 1960s. He then moved to television, joiningCalgary stationCFCN-TV in 1965 and subsequently worked forCBC Television,CTV, Global,NBC andThe Christian Science Monitor's television newscast.

In 1966, he went toSouth East Asia to cover theVietnam War as a freelanceforeign correspondent. He stayed on to cover the final withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam in 1973 and covered the fall of Cambodia to theKhmer Rouge in 1975.^[10] Kent returned to Canada and worked as a producer for CBC'sThe National and, in 1976, he became the broadcast'sanchorman afterLloyd Robertson moved toCTV News.

In 1978 Kent agreed to step down as anchorman ofThe National after he submitted an intervention to theCanadian 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 PresidentAl Johnson from thePrime Minister's Office that resulted in cancellation of a speech by PremierRené Lévesque and coverage of a speech by Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau. As a result of his intervention and descent fromThe 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, and the most recent example was the speech made to the country by Prime MinisterJean Chrétien on the eve of the1995 Quebec referendum. Kent returned briefly in 1978 to testify at a grievance hearing initiated by an unsuccessful anchor candidate who complained thatKnowlton Nash, the vice-president of CBC News, had appointed himself to succeed Kent. In that testimony Kent—the first journalist to anchorThe National—supported Nash's credentials.

Kent returned to Canada and the CBC in 1982 as a founding producer, correspondent and occasional co-host ofThe Journal, hosted byBarbara Frum andMary Lou Finlay.

On January 24, 1984, the CBC television programThe Journal broadcast a full edition documentary called "The Greenhouse Effect and Planet Earth," hosted, narrated and written by Kent. Broadcast nearly 40 years ago, this may be one of the first major media reports on the subject. Kent concluded with these words: "Thegreenhouse effect must be considered as the world's greatest environmental concern."^[11]

In 1984 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 fourEmmy nominations with the network. He then reported for and was back-up anchorman forJohn Hart andJohn Palmer atThe Christian Science Monitor'sWorld Monitor television news service. One of Kent's feature report series - on challenges in American inner cities - was awarded theRobert F. Kennedy Award.

In 1987, Peter Kent was a reporter on the team that produced the documentary “Six Days Plus 20 Years: A Dream Is Dying” which was condemned by both the Israeli left and right, including PremierYitzhak Shamir, Foreign MinisterShimon Peres and Defense MinisterYitzhak Rabin, who were some of several Israeli government officials who refused to engage with NBC for a period of time afterwards.^[12][13][14] Kent returned to Canada to join Global News in 1992, and was the anchorman of its flagship news programFirst National until 2001. He then anchored the business news showMoneyWise on Global andPrime.

In the2006 federal election, Kent ran as theConservative Party of Canada candidate in theToronto riding ofSt. Paul's. He placed second with 25.76% of the vote against the incumbent,Carolyn Bennett of theLiberals (50.25%), and ahead of Paul Summerville of theNew Democratic Party (19.19%).

Kent ran again for the Conservatives in the2008 election, this time in the riding ofThornhill, and was elected, defeating incumbentSusan Kadis by 5200 votes.^[15]

Kent was named to the junior cabinet post ofMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) several weeks after the election. In an interview with journalistSteve Paikin on December 7, 2009, Kent acknowledged that as Minister, he is instructed to only use language vetted by the PMO, on occasion liftingStephen Harper's statements from newspaper reports: "So when we're asked about the Israeli position on settlements, we never criticize Israel publicly. We say those settlements are 'unhelpful' in finding a comprehensive peace settlement. We've put on the record our position on nuclear power and India. We say 'it's no longer the 1970's, it's now 2009.' I saw the prime minister's quote in the newspapers to that effect yesterday, and so I used it today."^[16] Kent's comment that his government does not criticize Israel publicly was contradicted several months later by his senior minister,Lawrence Cannon, who went on record in the House of Commons "condemning" Israel's expansion of illegal settlements.^[17]

In a cabinet shuffle on January 4, 2011, Kent was named Minister of the Environment.^[18]

In November 2011, Kent participated in theDurban Conference and in December of the same year announced that Canada would formally begin the process to withdraw from theKyoto Protocol on climate change.^[19] Kent stated that “Kyoto, for Canada, is in the past,” predicted that other countries would also abandon Kyoto, and expressed his hope that a new agreement could be forged by 2015 that included the United States and China, the top two polluters.^[19] Kent claimed that the only way for Canada to avoid paying $14 billion ofcarbon 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.^[19][20]

While defending the withdrawal from Kyoto during the December 14, 2011 session of the Canadian House of Commons, Kent criticized NDP Environment CriticMegan Leslie for not being at the Durban Conference despite his ministry having banned participation from all opposition MPs.^[21] During the heckling from opposition MPs over this statement,Justin Trudeau shouted "You piece of shit!" at Kent, but later apologized for losing his temper over Kent's statements regarding opposition participation in Durban.^[21] In December 2012, Canada became the first country to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.^[20]

As Minister of the Environment, Kent was a vocal supporter of the development of theoil sands, in line with the Conservative government's stated economic priorities.

In a CBC interview, Kent stated there is no evidence that the oil sands developments are polluting theAthabasca River.^[22][23] His statement was later contrasted by a "secret"Environment Canada presentation released under FOI. The presentation highlights contamination of the Athabasca River as a high-profile concern. Citing elevated levels of pollutants near mining sites including hydrocarbons and heavy metals, possible effects on health of wildlife and downstream communities, and questioning current government data which is unable to generate a "big picture" view of impacts on the ecosystem.^[24][25]

Kent was an advocate of improving the Species At Risk Act, in particular making it apply to whole ecosystems rather than just individual species.^[26]

Kent was demoted from cabinet in the summer of 2013, shortly after his 70th birthday, in acabinet shuffle which Prime Minister Harper described as “generational change” in order to make room for younger MPs to become ministers.^[27] He has been described by some critics such as environmentalist Rick Smith as “Canada’s Worst Environment Minister Ever” for allegedly being a "green rubber stamp for destructive, ill-considered, industrial behaviour, all while glibly blaming “foreign interests” for meddling with Canada's overwhelmingly foreign-owned oil and gas sector" by restricting the ability ofenvironmental assessment to limitpipeline construction, walking away from theKyoto Protocol after the country had signed it, reducing protection for lakes and rivers, disbanding theNational Round Table on the Environment and the Economy on the basis NRTEE had become an anachronistic entity.^[28][29]

Kent has named his accomplishments as being wastewater regulation, changes to the Species at Risk Act and overseeinggreenhouse gas regulations for vehicle emissions, regulation of Canada's coal-fired electricity sector and banning the construction of any new coal-fired generating units. He regrets he was unable to convince cabinet colleagues to implement greenhouse gas regulations for the oil and gas industry.^[27]

As a backbench MP, Kent called on the government to fundHPV vaccinations for boys, in addition to current vaccination programs for girls, after he survived a bout with throat and tongue cancer at the end of 2013.^[30] He also criticized the Harper government for drawing up an "enemies list" of uncooperative bureaucrats and hostile stakeholders.^[31]

Prior to his demotion from cabinet, Kent stated his intention of running in the2015 federal election.^[31][32] During theelection campaign, Kent tweeted a photo that falsely showed an ISIS fighter posing as a refugee to bolster his argument for "refugee screening". After the claim was debunked, Kent retracted and deleted the tweet.^[33]

Kent was re-elected in both the 2015 and 2019 elections.^[34][35] He announced on November 23, 2020, that he would not be running in the next federal election.^[36]

On September 17, 2021, he attended a protest with residents and municipal politicians in his riding and neighbourhood ofThornhill (split between the cities ofMarkham andVaughan) opposing a route change for theproposed Yonge North subway extension, that would take the line from underYonge Street and have it pass under homes, concerned it could potentially create noise and vibrations from passing subway trains.^[37] He was unsuccessful in convincingMetrolinx (the line's provincial planning agency) to route the subway back under Yonge, though Metrolinx did revise the plan by increasing the planned tunnel depth and reducing the number of homes the line would pass under.^[38]

He left office on September 21, 2021, just five days after the protest, when parliament was dissolved for the2021 Canadian federal election.

• Official websiteArchived 2021-09-26 at theWayback Machine
• Profile atHouse of Commons of Canada
• Peter Kent – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca

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