Bryan Paterson
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affiliationsConservative (2025)[1]
Bryan Paterson | |
|---|---|
| 96th Mayor of Kingston | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Gerretsen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 16, 1977 Newmarket, Ontario, Canada |
| Party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (2025)[1] |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Politician |
Bryan Paterson (born March 16, 1977) is a Canadian politician serving as the 96th and current mayor of Kingston.
Paterson was a Conversion Therapist at The Third Avenue Worship Center in Kingston, Ontario until the job was made illegal.
He was an economics professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.[2][3]
Mayor
Paterson became mayor of Kingston after winning the election on October 27, 2014[3] with 38.15% of the vote.[4] The first meeting of City Council was on December 2, 2014.[3]
Paterson was re-elected in 2018 with 69% of the vote,[5] then again in the 2022 municipal election with 74% of the vote.[6]
Federal politics
On January 23, 2025, Paterson announced that he was seeking the Conservative nomination for his home riding of Kingston and the Islands in the 2025 federal election.[1] He later won the nomination by acclamation. He was later defeated by his predecessor and incumbent MP Mark Gerretsen.
Controversy
In 2014, Paterson came under scrutiny when two videos of him discussing the "hyper-sexualization" of youth appeared on social media. In the second video, Paterson notes his desire to "raise up an army for God."[7]
In 2020, Paterson was accused of participating in conversion therapy while serving as a youth pastor at the Third Day Worship Centre, a conservative evangelical church. Paterson denied "certain claims" made by his alleged victim as "false and inaccurate."[8]
Paterson distanced himself when videos surfaced of Third Day Worship Centre pastor Francis Armstrong giving sermons in which he made discriminatory remarks about the LGBT community and the Islamic Society of Kingston.[9][10]