honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	Peter Kent
honorific-suffix	PC, MP
riding	Thornhill
parliament	Canadian
term start	2008
predecessor	Susan Kadis
birth date	July 27, 1943
birth place	Sussex, United Kingdom
party	Conservative
spouse	Cilla Kent
children	Trilby Kent
residence	Thornhill, Ontario
profession	News editor
footnotes	}}

Peter Kent, PC, MP (born July 27, 1943) is a Conservative member of parliament for the riding of Thornhill, and the current Minister of the Environment in the 28th Canadian Ministry.

Previously, he was Deputy Editor of Global Television, a Canadian TV network. He has previously worked as a news editor, producer, foreign correspondent and news anchorman on Canadian and American television networks.

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 Herald''. His younger brother, Arthur Kent, 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 Democracies 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 Fame and a past member of the Board of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. He is also a Founding Supporter of Canadians for Defence and Security and a member of the board of the revitalized ParticipACTION. He is a board member of the controversial pro-Israel media advocacy group Honest Reporting 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. Kennedy Memorial Award.

Journalism

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

In the 1966, he went to South East Asia to cover the Vietnam War as a freelance foreign correspondent. He 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. Kent returned to Canada and worked as a producer for ''The National'' and, in 1976, he became the broadcast's anchorman after Lloyd Robertson moved to CTV News.

In 1978 Kent agreed to step down as anchorman 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 Johnson from the Prime Minister's Office that resulted in cancellation of a speech by Premier René Lévesque and coverage of a speech by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. 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 Chrétien on the eve of the 1995 Quebec referendum. 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 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 Frum and Mary Lou Finlay.

In 1984 Kent moved back 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. He 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. 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 anchorman of its flagship news program ''First National'' until 2001. He then anchored the business news show ''MoneyWise'' on Global and Prime.

Politics

In the 2006 federal election, Kent ran as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's. He placed second with 25.76% of the vote against the incumbent, Carolyn Bennett of the Liberals (50.25%), and ahead of Paul Summerville of the New Democratic Party (19.19%).

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.

In an interview with journalist Steve Paikin on December 9, 2009, Kent acknowledged that as Minister, he is instructed to only use language vetted by the PMO, on occasion lifting Stephen 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." 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.

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

Ministerial career

Offices held

Election results

Source: Elections Canada

References

External links

Peter Kent official site

Category:1943 births Category:Canadian television news anchors Category:Canadian television reporters and correspondents Category:Conservative Party of Canada MPs Category:Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario Category:Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada Category:People from Toronto Category:People from Sussex Category:Living people

fr:Peter Kent (homme politique)

{{infobox england county | name

Kent | image | motto ''Invicta'' | map | status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county | origin | region South East England | arearank Ranked 10th | area_km2 3736 | adminarearank Ranked 10th | adminarea_km2 3544 | adminhq Maidstone | iso GB-KEN | ons 29 | nuts3 UKJ42 | poprank Ranked | popestdate | pop | density_km2 | adminpoprank Ranked | adminpop | ethnicity 96.9% White1.9% Asian | council 150px"CANTIA" Kent County Councilhttp://www.kent.gov.uk/Medway Councilhttp://www.medway.gov.uk/ | exec | mps *Julian Brazier (C) Rehman Chishti (C) Greg Clark (C) Damian Collins (C) Tracey Crouch (C) Charlie Elphicke (C) Michael Fallon (C) Roger Gale (C) Helen Grant (C) Damian Green (C) Gordon Henderson (C) Adam Holloway (C) Gareth Johnson (C) Mark Reckless (C) Hugh Robertson (C) Laura Sandys (C) John Stanley (C) | subdivmap | subdivs #Sevenoaks # Dartford # Gravesham # Tonbridge and Malling # Medway (Unitary) # Maidstone # Tunbridge Wells # Swale # Ashford # Canterbury # Shepway # Thanet # Dover }}

Kent () is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of Medway. Kent has a nominal border with France halfway through the Channel Tunnel. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.

Kent's location between London and the continental Europe has led to its being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was named ''Hell Fire Corner'' during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.

Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is widely known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title. Major industries in the north-west of Kent have included cement, papermaking, and aircraft construction, but these are now in decline. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt. South and East Kent rely on tourism and agriculture. Coal mining has also played its part in Kent's industrial heritage.

History

The area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley.

The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word ''Cantus'' meaning "rim" or "border". This describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as ''Cantium'', or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC.

The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. It is possible that another ethnic group occupied what is now called The Weald and East Kent. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as ''Cantia'' from about 730 and as ''Cent'' in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the ''Cantwara'', or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital.

In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed Augustine as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became Britain's first Episcopal See and has since remained Britain's centre of Christianity.

In the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto ''Invicta'', meaning "undefeated". This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy. The Kent people's continued resistance against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous County Palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland.

During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler, Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I.

The Royal Navy first used the River Medway in 1547. By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at Chatham. By 1618, storehouses, a ropewalk, a drydock, and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham.

By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along the coast following the raid on the Medway, a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.

The 18th century was dominated by wars with France, during which the Medway became the primary base for a fleet that could act along the Dutch and French coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to the Atlantic, this role was assumed by Portsmouth and Plymouth, with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of the area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Many of the Georgian naval buildings still stand.

In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such as The Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France.

In 1889, the County of London was created and the townships of Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, Lee, Eltham, Charlton, Kidbrooke and Lewisham were transferred out of Kent and in 1900 the area of Penge was gained. Some of Kent, notably Dartford, is contiguous with Greater London.

During World War II, much of the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over the county. Between June 1944 and March 1945, over 10,000 V1 flying bombs, known as "Doodlebugs", were fired on London from bases in Northern France. Many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and barrage balloons, yet both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs.

After the war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965 the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent. In 1998, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham left the administrative county of Kent to form the Unitary Authority of Medway. During this reorganisation, through an "apparent" administrative oversight, the city of Rochester lost its official city status.

Climate

Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom.

Here is a climate chart for Wye near Ashford.

Physical geography

Kent is in the southeastern corner of England. It borders the River Thames and the North Sea to the north, and the Straits of Dover and the English Channel to the south. France is across the Strait.

The major geographical features of the county are determined by a series of ridges and valleys running east-west across the county. These are the results of erosion of the Wealden dome, a dome across Kent and Sussex created by Alpine movements 10–20 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer of Chalk above successive layers of Upper Greensand, Gault Clay, Lower Greensand, Weald Clay, and Wealden sandstone. The ridges and valleys formed when the exposed clay eroded faster than the exposed chalk, greensand, or sandstone.

Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford, and Folkestone are built on greensand, while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are built on sandstone. Dartford, Gravesend, the Medway towns, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury, Deal, and Dover are built on chalk. The easterly section of the Wealden dome has been eroded away by the sea, and cliffs such as the white cliffs of Dover are present where a chalk ridge known as the North Downs meets the coast. Spanning Dover and Westerham is the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Wealden dome is a Mesozoic structure lying on a Palaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. The Coal Measures within the Westphalian Sandstone are deep about 250 m – 400 m (800 – 1300 ft) and subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel where similar coalfields are located.

Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though the epicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on the Richter Scale. In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The 2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone.

The coastline of Kent is continuously changing, due to tectonic uplift and coastal erosion. Until about 960, the Isle of Thanet was an island, separated by the Wantsum channel, formed around a deposit of chalk; over time, the channels silted up with alluvium. Similarly Romney Marsh and Dungeness have been formed by accumulation of alluvium.

Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone. Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames as its final tributary near Sheerness. The Medway is some long. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge. The Medway has captured the head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent. Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east.

Demographics

Kent 1,579,206 5.8% 96.5% 2.0% 0.4% 74.6% 0.6% 0.7%

Kent Compared
United Kingdom Census 2001	2001 UK census	|	South East England	England'''
Total population	|	8,000,645	49,138,831
Foreign born	|	8.1%	9.2%
White	|	95.1%	90.9%
Asian	|	2.7%	4.6%
Black	|	0.7%	2.3%
Christian	|	72.8%	72%
Muslim	|	1.4%	3.1%
Sikh	|	0.5%	0.7%

As of the 2001 UK census, Kent, including Medway, had 1,579,206 residents and 646,308 households, of which 1,329,718 residents and 546,742 households were within the administrative boundaries. Of those households, 48.9% were married couples living together, 9.0% were co-habiting couples and 8.7% were lone parents; 28.0% of households consisted of individuals, 14.6% had someone of pensionable age living alone, and 30.4% included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males.

The ethnicity of Kent was 96.5% White, 0.9% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 1.7% other Asian and 0.4% Black. The place of birth for residents was 94.2% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.9% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Africa, 0.6% Far East, 0.9% South Asia, 0.2% Middle East, 0.4% North America, 0.1% South America and 0.3% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 74.6% Christian, 0.7% Sikh, 0.6% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.1% Jewish, while 15.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion, and 7.8% did not state their religion.

Government

Kent County Council (KCC) and its 12 district councils administer most of the county (3352 km²), while the Medway Towns Council, a unitary authority and commonly called Medway Council, administers the more densely populated remainder (192 km²). Together they have around 300 town and parish councils. Kent County Council's headquarters are in Maidstone, while Medway's offices are at Gun Wharf, Chatham.

As of the 2009 county council elections, Kent County Council was controlled by the Conservatives, which won 74 of the Council's 84 seats, 7 were won by the Liberal Democrats, 2 by the Labour Party and 1 by the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association. As of the 2007 local elections, Medway Council was controlled by the Conservatives; 33 of the Council's 55 seats were held by the Conservatives, 13 by the Labour Party, 8 by the Liberal Democrats and 1 by an Independent. Currently, all of Kent's district councils are controlled by the Conservatives; the only British county that is in this position.

At the national level, Kent is represented in Parliament by 17 MPs, all of whom are Conservative. Kent is in the European Parliament constituency of South East England, which elects ten members of the European Parliament.

Economy

As of the 2001 UK census, employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide.

The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households. This is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications, and lower for manufacturing.

Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards and hop gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish.

However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area. This is illustrated by the following table of economic indicator gross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2000 (figures are in millions of British Pounds Sterling).

Regional GVA<12,36915,25918,1261,8232,3482,671

Year		|	Agriculture		Industry		Services
COLSPAN=8>County of Kent (excluding Medway)
1995	|	379	3.1%	3,886	31.4%	8,104	65.5%
2000	|	259	1.7%	4,601	30.2%	10,399	68.1%
2003	|	287	1.6%	5,057	27.9%	12,783	70.5%
COLSPAN=8	Medway
1995	|	21	3.1%	560	31.4%	1,243	68.2%
2000	|	8	1.7%	745	30.2%	1,595	67.9%
2003	|	10	1.6%	802	27.9%	1,859	69.6%

{| |- | Components may not sum to totals due to rounding |- | includes energy and construction |- | includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured |}

North Kent is heavily industrialised with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton, brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on the Medway and Swale, engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford and papermaking at Swanley, and oil refining at Grain. A steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough.There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, although the older one, built in 1965, was closed at the end of 2006.

Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during the 19th and 20th century. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway.

Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill, with over 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty eight survive within the county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills.

From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries, including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986.

The west of the county (including Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks) is generally more affluent than the east, especially when compared to the coastal regions of Folkestone, Dover & Thanet. This is partly due to the former's proximity to London, making it prime "commuter belt" and the latter's geographic extremities. The eagerly awaited CTRL 2009 rail service, using the high speed Channel Tunnel line to bring coastal areas' travel times to London down to around an hour, is hoped to further regeneration.

Arts

Kent has provided inspiration for several notable writers and artists. Canterbury's religious role gave rise to Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'', a key development in the English language. The father of novelist Charles Dickens worked at the Chatham Dockyard; in many of his books, the celebrated novelist featured the scenery of Chatham, Rochester, and the Cliffe marshes. The landscape painter J. M. W. Turner spent part of his childhood in the town of Margate in East Kent, and regularly returned to visit it throughout his life. The East Kent coast inspired many of his works, including some of his most famous seascapes. During the late 1930s, Nobel Prize-awarded novelist William Golding worked as a teacher at Maidstone Grammar School, where he met his future wife Ann Brookfield.

The county's largest theatre is The Marlowe Theatre, situated in the centre of Canterbury. It is currently being redeveloped to re-open in October 2011.

Transport

Roads

With the Roman invasion, a road network was constructed to connect London to the Channel ports of Dover, Lympne and Richborough. The London–Dover road was Watling Street. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. The A2 runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury and Dover; the A20 through Eltham, Wrotham, Maidstone, Charing, Ashford. Hythe, Folkestone and Dover; the A21 around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex. In the 1960s, two motorways were built; the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Kent and Essex tunnel at Dartford. The Dartford tunnel has been joined by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, together providing four lanes in each direction. The M26 motorway, built in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near Wrotham. Kent currently has more motorways by distance than any other county in the UK, with sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 totalling 173km within the extents of the ceremonial county.

Water

The medieval Cinque Ports, except for Dover, have all now silted up. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge. Kent's two canals are the Royal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which still exists, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built in 1824, it was purchased in 1846 by the railways, which partially backfilled it. Container ports are located at Ramsgate and Thamesport.

Railways

The earliest locomotive-driven passenger-carrying railway in Britain was the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened in 1830. This and the London and Greenwich Railway later merged into South Eastern Railway (SER). By the 1850s, SER's networks had expanded to Ashford, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and the Medway towns. SER's major London termini were London Bridge, Charing Cross, and Cannon Street. Kent also had a second major railway, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Originally the East Kent Railway in 1858, it linked the northeast Kent coast with London terminals at Victoria and Blackfriars.

The two companies merged in 1899, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). In the aftermath of World War I, the government's Railways Act 1921 grouped railway companies together; the SECR joined neighbouring London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to form the Southern Railway. Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948, forming British Rail. The railways were privatised in 1996 and most Kent passenger services were franchised to Connex South Eastern. Following financial difficulties, Connex lost the franchise and was replaced by South Eastern Trains and after Southeastern.

The Channel Tunnel was completed in 1994 and High Speed 1 in November 2007 with a London terminus at St Pancras. A new station, Ebbsfleet International, opened between Dartford and Gravesend, serving northern Kent. The high speed lines will be utilised to provide a faster train service to coastal towns like Ramsgate and Folkestone. This station is in addition to the existing station at Ashford International, which has suffered a massive cut in service as a result.

In addition to the "mainline" railways, there are several light, heritage, and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways; Spa Valley Railway near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch, East Kent Railway on the old East Kent coalfield area and the Kent and East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition there is the gauge, tourist-oriented Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the , industrial Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway.

Air

A limited number of charter flights are provided by Kent's Kent International Airport at Manston, and London Ashford Airport at Lydd. However, most passengers across the South East use the larger Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports. In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village of Cliffe on the Hoo Peninsula. This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.

Education

The county has three universities; Canterbury Christ Church University with campuses throughout East Kent, University of Kent, with campuses in Canterbury and Medway, and University of Greenwich (a London University), with sites at Woolwich, Eltham, London and Medway. The University of Creative Arts (UCA) also has three of its five campuses in the county.

Whereas much of Britain adopted a comprehensive education system in the 1970s, Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Unitary Authority are among around fifteen local authorities still providing wholly selective education through the eleven-plus examination with students allocated a place at a secondary modern school or at a grammar school. Together, the two Kent authorities have 38 of the 164 grammar schools remaining in Britain.

KCC has the largest education department of any local authority in Britain, providing school places for over 289,000 pupils.

Nursery 1 0

Schools in Kent (data from 2000)
LEA	|	Primary	Secondary (modern)	Secondary (Grammar)	Special school>Special	pupil referral unit>Pupil Referral Units	Independent	City Technology College>City Technology College	Total
KCC	|	475	74	32	34	11	83	1	711
Medway	|	89	14	6	3	1	7	0	120

For the 2005–06 school year, KCC and Medway introduced a standardised school year, based on six terms, as recommended by the Local Government Association in its 2000 report, "The Rhythms of Schooling".

Kent County Council LEA maintains 96 secondary schools, of which 33 are selective schools and 63 are secondary modern schools.

National Challenge schools

Kent has the highest number of National Challenge schools in England, schools which are branded "failing" based on the British Government's floor targets that 30% of pupils achieve at least 5 GCSE grades A* to C. Of the 63 secondary modern schools, 33 achieved below this requirement meaning that 52% of Kent secondary modern schools (34% out of all 96 maintained secondary schools) are failing.

Local media

Television

Much of Kent is served by the BBC's South East region, which is based in Tunbridge Wells and provides local news for the county and East Sussex. Its commercial rival is ITV Meridian Ltd, which has a newsroom at The Maidstone Studios despite the main studio being based in Hampshire. Main transmitters providing these services are located at West Hougham, near Dover and Bluebell Hill, located between Chatham and Maidstone. Those parts of Kent closer to London such as Gravesend, Dartford and parts of Sevenoaks lie within the ITV London and BBC London areas, taking their television signals from the Crystal Palace transmitter.

The county is also served by two internet-based TV channels, Kent TV (part-owned by Kent County Council) and YourKentTV which is owned by KOS Media.

Radio

Kent has three county-wide stations – BBC Radio Kent, based in Tunbridge Wells; and the commercial stations Heart and Gold, both based in Whitstable and London.

Most of the county is covered by local radio network KMFM, owned by the KM Group. Other than the breakfast show, programmes are the same across all seven stations in the network:

KMFM Ashford

KMFM Canterbury

KMFM Maidstone

KMFM Medway

KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country

KMFM Thanet

KMFM West Kent

The county has five community radio stations.

BRFM covers the Isle of Sheppey

SFM covers Sittingbourne

CSR 97.4FM covers Canterbury, as a joint production between the city's two universities

Academy FM (Thanet) covers Thanet

Academy FM (Folkestone) covers Folkestone

A licence has been granted for Radio Sunlight in Gillingham, but no broadcast dates have yet been set.

Dover Community Radio (DCR) offers a podcasting service for the people of Dover district on their website, hoping in the future to apply for a community radio licence to cover the town and its environs.

Newspapers

The KM Group, KOS Media and Kent Regional News and Media all provide local newspapers for most of the large towns and cities. County-wide papers include the ''Kent Messenger'', ''Kent on Saturday'', ''Kent on Sunday'', and the ''Kent and Sussex Courier''.

See also

List of places in Kent

List of civil parishes in Kent

List of fire stations in Kent

List of windmills in Kent

:Category:Towns in Kent

:Category:Villages in Kent

List of tourist attractions in Kent

Recreational walks in Kent

Thames Gateway – includes details of regeneration projects in the northern areas of Kent

List of people from Kent

Lord Lieutenant of Kent

High Sheriff of Kent

Thanet

Duke of Kent

References

External links

Kent Parishes – Forum for History, Genealogy, Ancestry and local information

Kent County Council – local government website

Kent Wildlife Trust – Kent Wildlife Trust is the most active conservation trust in the county

Kent Online – a Kent Messenger Group website

Camelot Village – Kent heritage

Kent Downs – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website

CPRE Kent- Kent Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)

historic-kent.co.uk – further information on villages throughout Kent.

BBC – origins of Kent placenames

Kent Coast in Pictures – photographs of the coastline of Kent.

Kent County Cricket Club

Official Kent Tourism Guide

Official Heart of Kent Tourism Guide

BBC feature on the Kent eleven-plus

Kent-Weather – A county-wide weather forecasting website.

Category:Anglo-Saxon England Category:Non-metropolitan counties Category:South East England

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name	Justin Trudeau
honorific-suffix	BA ''(McGill)'' BEd ''(UBC)'' MP
riding	Papineau
parliament	Canadian
term start	2008
predecessor	Vivian Barbot
birth date	December 25, 1971
birth place	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
party	Liberal
spouse	Sophie Grégoire
children	Xavier James TrudeauElla-Grace Margaret Trudeau
relations	Pierre Trudeau, father (d. 2000)Margaret Trudeau, motherAlexandre Trudeau, brotherMichel Trudeau, brother (d. 1998)James Sinclair, maternal grandfather
alma mater	McGill University University of British Columbia
occupation	Teacher
religion	Roman Catholic
website	Justin.ca }}

Justin Pierre James Trudeau, MP (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician. He has represented the Montreal electoral division of Papineau in the Canadian House of Commons since 2008 as a member of the Liberal Party and currently serves as the party's critic for youth, post-secondary education, and amateur sport.

Trudeau is the eldest son of the late former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper. His maternal grandfather, James Sinclair, was also a federal cabinet minister.

Early life and personal life

Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971, in Ottawa, Ontario. He was only the second child in Canadian history to be born when one of his parents was prime minister; the first was John A. Macdonald's youngest daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald, and Trudeau's younger brothers Alexandre (Sacha) (born December 25, 1973) and Michel (1975–98) were the third and fourth, respectively. Pierre and Margaret Trudeau separated in 1977, when Justin was six years old, and Pierre retired as prime minister in 1984. Of his mother and father's marriage, Trudeau said in 2009, "They loved each other incredibly, passionately, completely. But there was 30 years between them and my mom never was an equal partner in what encompassed my father's life, his duty, his country."

Pierre Trudeau raised his children in relative privacy in Montreal. In 2008, Justin said that of all his early family outings he enjoyed camping with his father the most, because "that was where our father got to be just our father—a dad in the woods." Justin actively supported the Liberal Party from a young age, offering his personal support to embattled party leader John Turner in the 1988 federal election. Two years later, he defended Canadian federalism at a student event at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf.

Trudeau emerged as a prominent figure in his own right in October 2000, after delivering a memorable eulogy at his father's state funeral. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) received numerous calls to rebroadcast the speech after its initial transmission, and leading Quebec politician Claude Ryan described it as "perhaps [...] the first manifestation of a dynasty." A book issued by the CBC in 2003 included the speech in its list of significant Canadian events from the past fifty years.

Trudeau has a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduation, he worked as a social studies and French teacher in Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia. From 2002 to 2004, he studied engineering at the Université de Montréal. He also started a Master of Arts degree in Environmental Geography at McGill University before suspending his program to seek public office.

On May 28, 2005, Trudeau married Sophie Grégoire, a former model and Quebec television host. They have two children.

Trudeau is one of several children of former Prime Ministers who have become Canadian media personalities. The others are Ben Mulroney, Catherine Clark, and Justin's younger brother, Alexandre. Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney were longtime foes, but this rivalry did not carry over to their sons; Ben Mulroney was a guest at Justin Trudeau's wedding.

Advocacy

Trudeau has used his public status to promote various causes. He and his family started the Kokanee Glacier Alpine Campaign for winter sports safety in 2000, two years after his brother Michel Trudeau died in an avalanche during a ski trip. In 2002, Trudeau criticized the British Columbia government's decision to stop its funding for a public avalanche warning system.

Trudeau chaired the Katimavik youth program, a project started by longtime family friend Jacques Hébert, from 2002 to 2006. In 2002–03, he was a panelist on CBC Radio's ''Canada Reads'' series, where he championed ''The Colony of Unrequited Dreams'' by Wayne Johnston. Trudeau and his brother Alexandre inaugurated the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto in April 2004; the centre later became a part of the Munk School of Global Affairs. In 2006, he hosted the Giller Prize for literature.

In 2005, Trudeau fought against a proposed $100 million zinc mine that he argued would poison the Nahanni River, a United Nations World Heritage Site located in the Northwest Territories. He was quoted as saying, "The river is an absolutely magnificent, magical place. I'm not saying mining is wrong [...] but that is not the place for it. It's just the wrong thing to be doing."

On 17 September 2006, Trudeau was the master of ceremonies at a Toronto rally organized by Roméo Dallaire that called for Canadian participation in resolving the Darfur crisis.

Actor

CBC Television announced in July 2006 that Justin Trudeau would appear in the two-part miniseries, ''The Great War'', portraying Talbot Mercer Papineau (1883–1917). Papineau was killed in action in Ypres, Belgium and was among Canada's first Rhodes Scholars. Coincidentally, Trudeau later became the Member of Parliament (MP) for a riding named after Talbot Mercer Papineau's lineage: this includes his great-great-grandfather, seigneur Joseph Papineau (1752–1841) and great-grandfather, reformist ''Patriote'' Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786–1871). The program was broadcast in 2007.

Political career

Trudeau became more involved with the Liberal Party throughout the 2000s. He co-hosted a tribute to outgoing prime minister Jean Chrétien at the party's 2003 leadership convention and was later appointed to chair a task force on youth renewal after the party's narrow defeat in the 2006 federal election.

In October 2006, Trudeau criticized Quebec nationalism by describing political nationalism generally as "old idea from the 19th century," "based on a smallness of thought" and not relevant to modern Quebec. This comment was seen as a criticism of Michael Ignatieff, then a candidate in the 2006 Liberal Party leadership election, who was promoting recognition of Quebec as a nation. Trudeau subsequently wrote a public letter on the subject, describing the idea of Quebec nationhood as "against everything my father ever believed."

Trudeau announced his support for leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy shortly before the 2006 convention and introduced Kennedy during the candidates' final speeches. When Kennedy dropped off after the second ballot, Trudeau went with him to support the ultimate winner, Stéphane Dion.

Rumours circulated in early 2007 that Trudeau would run in a by-election in the Montreal riding of Outremont, but he instead announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Papineau for the next general election. He won the nomination on April 29, 2007, defeating two well-known municipal politicians. On election day, Trudeau narrowly defeated one-term Bloc Québécois incumbent Vivian Barbot. He was one of only a few Liberal candidates to gain a seat at the expense of an opposition party in this election.

Following the election, Edward Greenspon, editor-in-chief of ''The Globe and Mail'', noted that Trudeau would "be viewed as few other rookie MPs are—as a potential future prime minister—and scrutinized through that lens." ;Member of Parliament The Conservative Party won a minority government in the 2008 election, and Trudeau entered parliament as a member of the Official Opposition. Stéphane Dion resigned as Liberal leader shortly after the election, and rumours circulated that Trudeau, despite his inexperience, could become a candidate to succeed him. Trudeau responded that he was not interested in seeking the position so early in his career. In early 2009, Michael Ignatieff was chosen as the party's new leader.

Trudeau was the first member of the 40th Parliament of Canada to introduce a private member's motion, in which he called for a "national voluntary service policy for young people." The proposal won support from parliamentarians across party lines. He later co-chaired the Liberal Party's April 2009 national convention in Vancouver, and in October of the same year he was appointed as the party's critic for multiculturalism and youth. In September 2010, he was reassigned as critic for youth, citizenship, and immigration. He was critical of the Harper government's human smuggling legislation, which he argued would penalize the victims of smuggling.

He encouraged a strong Canadian relief effort after the 2010 Haiti earthquake and sought more accessible immigration procedures for Haitians moving to Canada in the time of crisis. His own riding includes a significant Haitian community.

Trudeau was re-elected in Papineau in the 2011 Canadian federal election, as the Liberal Party fell to third-party standing in the House of Commons with only thirty-four seats. Michael Ignatieff resigned as party leader immediately after the election, and rumours again circulated that Trudeau could run to become his successor. On this occasion, Trudeau said, "I don't feel I should be closing off any options," but added, "because of the history packaged into my name, a lot of people are turning to me in a way that [...] to be blunt, concerns me."

Bob Rae was chosen as party leader on an interim basis, and a contest for the next full-time leader is expected in 2013. Trudeau now serves as the Liberal critic youth, post-secondary education, and amateur sport. ;Municipal politics Trudeau campaigned on behalf of George Smitherman in the 2010 Toronto mayoral election.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1971 births Category:Canadian Roman Catholics Category:Canadian schoolteachers Category:Children of the Prime Ministers of Canada Category:Franco-Ontarian people Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs Category:Living people Category:McGill University alumni Category:Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Quebec Category:People from Ottawa Category:Pierre Trudeau Category:University of British Columbia alumni

fa:جاستین ترودو fr:Justin Trudeau ja:ジャスティン・トルドー

name	Megan Leslie
honorific-suffix	MP
riding	Halifax
parliament	Canadian
term start	2008
predecessor	Alexa McDonough
birth date	September 29, 1973
birth place	Toronto, Ontario
party	New Democratic Party
profession	community legal worker
footnotes	}}

Megan Leslie (born September 29, 1973) is a Canadian politician, who has been the federal Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Halifax since the 2008 Canadian federal election. She is a member of the New Democratic Party and serves as the NDP critic for the environment. Until May 2010, she was the critic for housing and homelessness, deputy critic for justice and deputy critic for First Nations, Métis and Inuit affairs (urban issues).

Biography

Leslie, was raised in Kirkland Lake, Ontario,. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Social & Political Thought and History and a Certificate in Refugee and Migration Studies, both from York University. She has a law degree from Dalhousie University.

After her law degree, she worked for the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service as a community legal worker and law professor. She has an extensive background in social justice advocacy on poverty issues. She is a founding member of the Affordable Energy Coalition and was part of a successful settlement agreement with Nova Scotia Power Inc. regarding energy efficiency programs. She has advocated at Residential Tenancies, Small Claims, Income Assistance Appeal Board, CPP Disability Tribunal, and Utility and Review Board hearings and has coordinated mobile legal info clinics around Halifax, including Direction 180, Stepping Stone, Metro Immigrant Settlement Association, Metro Turning Point, Bayers Westwood Parent Resource Centre, Single parent Centre and Adsum House. She developed the "Tenant Rights Project", which was named as an anti-eviction strategy best practice.

In 2005, Megan attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Montreal to present on the issue of energy poverty. She has also made presentations to the Canadian Public Health Association national conference, the Atlantic Regional Association of Immigrant Settlement Associations and the national conference of the Public Legal Education Association of Canada.

Awards and Accolades

Megan Leslie was chosen as one of the "five best Canadian members of Parliament" by the The Mark News.

In May 2009, Leslie was chosen as "Best Rookie" by ''Maclean's'' in their third annual Parliamentarians of the Year awards.

In February 2010, an essay by Leslie was featured in an Americas Quarterly issue titled "Voices from the New Generation", which featured 29 young business, political, and civic leaders from across the Americas. In her essay Leslie expressed her belief in her generation's recognition of the complexity of social change, and her style of politics that recognizes the need for robust community participation as well as representation in parliament.

In December 2010, she was voted as the favourite "Up and Comer" on Parliament Hill and was picked as one of the year's top MPs by columnist Davik Akin.

Readers of The Coast weekly newspaper in Halifax voted her as "Best Halifax Member of Parliament" in 2009 and 2010. In 2008 she was Voted "Best Activist".

Before entering politics she received: Muriel Duckworth award for raising consciousness of women's issues and feminism in the legal community; Holly House Heroes award (Elizabeth Fry) for work in housing and homelessness; Weldon Community Commitment Award; Dalhousie Governor's Award for exceptional leadership in the University and community; MacIntosh Bursary for outstanding public service; CBA Law Day Award for encouraging and promoting access to justice

Health Critic

Leslie launched an initiative as the NDP's Health Critic to propose a national pharmacare plan to pay for expensive prescription drugs.

She also introduced a Private Members Bill to create a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, which has garnered the support of some municipal councils.

She was also noted for being "well-briefed on the controversy surrounding Assisted Human Reproduction Canada last spring, when several board members resigned amid allegations of lack of transparency over spending."

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocacy

Megan did an undergraduate thesis on Supreme Court of Canada case law relating to gay and lesbian issues.

She also presented an educational workshop for the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission on gender identity, and was involved in the campaign to get sex reassignment surgery covered by Nova Scotia's provincial health care plan. She has stated that her goal in politics is to "use the law to make Canada a better place for people who are marginalized."

During debate over Bill C-389, An Act to Amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression), known as the Trans Rights Bill, Leslie read letters from people who had contacted her office, stating "I am going to use my time today to bring the voices of people, some from Halifax and others from around Canada, who contacted me about this bill".

References

External links

Megan Leslie

Citizen Leslie, The Coast, Jan 2009

Category:1973 births Category:Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Nova Scotia Category:New Democratic Party MPs Category:Canadian women Members of Parliament Category:Living people Category:Canadian human rights activists Category:Canadian anti-poverty activists Category:Women in Nova Scotia politics Category:People from Kirkland Lake Category:People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Dalhousie University alumni Category:LGBT rights activists from Canada Category:York University alumni