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The man behind the mayor Part II

By Jan Kaluza

In the brief time I spent with him, I caught a glimpse of what Peter Trent the man is like, albeit in a superficial way, but it allowed me to present a Polaroid snapshot image of the fascinating man behind the mayor.

Even though we discussed a little of his private life, the path would inevitably lead back to his professional one. "Work and home are all mixed up," he said by way of explanation. "I have trouble divorcing the two." At first, I thought this was a neat way for him to side-step any questions pertaining to the personal, enabling him to regurgitate certain set-piece riffs that most politicians do for every journalist. But no, he was frank and open with me and not at all circumspect.

Even though we discussed a little of his private life, the path would inevitably lead back to his professional one. "Work and home are all mixed up," he said by way of explanation. "I have trouble divorcing the two." At first, I thought this was a neat way for him to side-step any questions pertaining to the personal, enabling him to regurgitate certain set-piece riffs that most politicians do for every journalist. But no, he was frank and open with me and not at all circumspect.

At one stage in the conversation, while discussing his job, he turned to me and said, in a moment of genuine candour: "I always say I don't take myself seriously, I take my job seriously. I think I'm less proud of my private life-the divorce and so on-than my public life. My public life I'm extremely proud of, and proud of my conduct. I may regret a decision I've made, but I've never felt I've betrayed my public. I think the reason why people appreciate what I do as mayor is because I take their trust seriously and I will never betray that trust."

It was he, not I, who raised the subject of his divorce. For the longest time I had assumed he was either single or gay, because at the various Westmount social functions I'd seen him attend, he was always on his own. "My ex-wife rarely went to my dos; she would go to some events, but rarely. But it wasn't a problem." Anyway, people voted him in as mayor and not her, he added, somewhat edgily.

His 20-year marriage, to a francophone biology teacher, ended a few years ago, and not on the best of terms, according to Trent. When I had asked him if he was still friendly with his ex-wife, he said in a regretful way, "No. I wish I were. We're not in contact at all. I haven't seen her since we divorced. I guess in a way there's so much guilt and acrimony surrounding divorce, and her way of dealing with it is for her to say, 'I don't want to see you or talk to you.' She has moved to another part of Montreal. Most of my friends I had with her I still see, so I've not changed my social life in that respect.

"On a scale of one to 100, with death of a spouse being the highest, divorce is about 75 on the stress level. I didn't realize how difficult divorce would be and how intense and upsetting it is. For about a year after I was not really myself. It was tough."

He thinks that men are generally useless at living on their own. "We can't live alone," he said. "This house is what I call a maison de transition, because I don't intend to live alone for the rest of my life."

So, I wondered if there was someone who picked up his dirty socks-not that there was any sign of dirty laundry or daily debris in Trent's pin-neat and scrupulously clean house. It's an elegant home filled with gracious antiques, which he moved into a year ago, post-divorce, but it lacked the warmth of a woman's touch. He said that yes, he was seeing someone special, because he wants to share his life with another person. "I'm not interested in living by myself. One of the most difficult things about divorce was coming home to an empty house."

He claimed he does his own laundry and that he's quite domesticated-but he can't cook. "I'm absolutely useless in the kitchen. I keep the take-out restaurants in business," he said with a laugh.

As for marriage, he doubts that he would marry again. "I'd probably live with someone. To me one gets married to have children." His ex-wife had a daughter who was eight when she and Trent married, and whom he helped raise. He doesn't have any children of his own.

When time allows, he jogs, he keeps fit, he reads (John Updike and Shakespeare), and, while involved in the local militia, he definitely is not into the typical Canuck pursuits of huntin', shootin' an' fishin'. "I do like nature, but I don't like fishing and being eaten by mosquitoes, which seem to like me. And I don't like camping. Why in these civilized times would one need to camp?" He's a man who likes his creature comforts. Likes good food and fine wine. He's sociable. Time was when he would socialize with some of the other suburban mayors. "Our relationship was congenial," he said. Having been president of the Suburban Mayors for four years, Trent would sometimes invite the other mayors to his house for dinner. "But this mega-city thing has created a huge division between us. You know, some of the mayors were tearing their shirts off to fight the amalgamations last December, and the next thing you know they've moved to the other side and co-operating with the Transition Committee. To be blunt with you, I think some of them are more interested in their own futures than in the future of their city."

He reaffirmed (not that he needed to) that certainly was not the case in Westmount. "Everyone on the council is united; there's total support. We've got a great team. I couldn't do it without their support-and I couldn't do it without the support of the people of Westmount." He began to quote Westmount's Latin motto to me, the translation of which is: "The faith of the citizens is my strength." And this he believes unquestionably to be true.

At that point, Pierre Bourque's name popped up. I don't know why, because nobody-least most Westmounters-seems to have any faith in him whatsoever. "Oh, he's such a phony," I said. Trent replied that Bourque has a terrible time with the electronic media. He comes across appallingly on TV because he looks so....opaque. (I thought it had more to do with his hilarious hair rug!).

Trent is no mudslinger, and you wouldn't expect him to employ low-down PQ type tactics and slag off the opposition. When it comes to public morals he's strictly kosher. "There's a joke among the various municipal lawyers that we are the Boy Scouts of Quebec cities. They say that with admiration because Westmount's as clean as a whistle."

His ex-wife found him to be generous in his toleration of others, according to Trent, and also his colleagues find him to be non-judgmental. "I realize everyone has their foibles, and some people are out-and-out cretins, but not many."

Conversely, there aren't many people he respects in an all-encompassing way. Therefore he has no political heroes. "I admire Paul Martin though, and I respected Trudeau as a thinker even though I disagreed with some of his policies. Trudeau and I had some interesting lunches together and what I liked best about him was he was his own man, and people loved him for that. He would tell the press to buzz off, or he pirouetted behind the Queen or whatever. He was totally natural. I said to him, 'Pierre, you have taught me to be myself.' And that's what I learned from him."

Trent felt that, overall, Bill Clinton was a good president. "Although obviously the man had trouble keeping his pants on, that in itself is not a fatal character flaw, I don't think, but it comes with the territory..."

When I asked Mr. Mayor if he was talking from personal experience, he hooted with laughter. "I don't think the mayor of Westmount has quite the same drawing power as the president of the United States. But my observation is yes, men in power do attract women, and rather than sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist, I think that society should honestly deal with it.

"I don't want to comment on what I've done-that's my business. As long as an individual conducts himself-I say he because it's usually a man in power and a woman who is attracted to him-as long as it's done with elegance and discretion, I don't see a problem.

"I think that some people are attracted to politics also because of their egotism and they like to be flattered and they dearly want to be loved. I mean with Mulroney, that was one of his reasons for being in politics and I'm not knocking this. We all want to be liked."

In the future, instead of women being stuck on the political sidelines (sexually or otherwise), Trent would like to see more women step into the political arena. "For a start, I think women are more intelligent than men, and they are great communicators. I'd like to see more women coming into municipal politics, as right now we only have one female mayor (Anne Myles of Baie d'Urfé). I work well with women and I get on with my female colleagues. There are four women on our council, and four men, so it's equal and it's a great blend. I think those women feel comfortable working with me and I feel comfortable with them. My approach to running the City is very female in a sense that its consensual."

And is it consensual because Trent is in touch with his feminine side? I wondered. "No, it's because I'm completely at ease with my maleness," he countered with a smile.

Then he looked at his watch. He hadn't realized it was getting late. We had talked lingeringly and now the long twilight stretched in front of us. The conversation had come full circle, as, once more the subject of the mega-city cropped up. "Be honest; don't quote the spin doctors," I said. "What are our chances of winning this?"

"Well," he replied, exhaling deeply. For the first time in the interview he sounded tired. "I wouldn't say the odds are stacked against us, but it's an uphill battle. We asked (the courts) for a temporary injunction, and we'll be going for a permanent injunction in May. I always quote Parkinson who said, 'Delay is the deadliest form of denial.' Obviously, in the meantime, I will do my level best to put a spoke in their wheel."

As he smiled for the photographs, hair freshly brushed, tie in place, he looked every inch a winner. "A good general doesn't contemplate defeat," he stressed defiantly as a parting shot.

Peter Trent, mayor of the people, knows that what you risk reveals what you value. And there's no such thing as a risk-free risk.

-30-

by By Jan Kaluza

OWN 23 may 2002 The man behind the mayor

see Peter Trent's Open Letter to Mayor Bourque March 28, 2001

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Gaszette & other media MergerNotes a please see for Lastest & History

10/Feb/2001 Gaszette Editoral by Peter F. Trent a must see.

Peter F. Trent

The Latest Story
"The man behind the mayor" Part I
By Jan Kaluza

And do see his March 13, 2001 Letter
to Fellow Citizen:

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There'll Be No Tavern In This Town
by Peter Trent March 14th 1998 It has a 26mg movie with George Bowser and Peter Trent

Other Westmount DTN photos