Trent showed how a mayor can lead

Re: “Westmount lucky to have had Trent in mayor’s chair” (Opinion, April 17)

Most mayors are elected directly by the people. That gives the mayor a democratic legitimacy that presidents and prime ministers in most countries don’t have. Yet our cities have no constitutional protection. They are creatures of the province and can disappear with a stroke of the legislator’s pen. We experienced the full force of this during the merger-demerger debates.

Still, the political power of the city and a popular mayor should never be underestimated. When Jean Drapeau presided as chief magistrate of Montreal, then Canada’s largest city, he was insulted when asked if he had plans to become the premier of Quebec some day. In the case of Peter Trent, his leadership in the demerger file has benefited municipalities beyond Westmount, and has shown how municipal government, the government closest to the people, can in some important instances, be its most valid representative.

Howard Greenfield, Montreal