His Worship
Bryan Paterson
96th Mayor of Kingston
Assumed office
December 1, 2014
Preceded byMark Gerretsen
Personal details
Born (1977-03-16) March 16, 1977 (age 46)
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Political partyIndependent
Alma mater
ProfessionPolitician

Bryan Paterson (born March 16, 1977) is a Canadian politician serving as the 96th and current mayor of Kingston.

Career

Paterson is an economics professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.[1][2]

Mayor

Paterson became mayor of Kingston after winning the election on October 27, 2014[2] with 38.15% of the vote.[3] The first meeting of City Council was on December 2, 2014.[2]

Paterson was re-elected in 2018 with 69% of the vote,[4] then again in the 2022 municipal election with 74% of the vote.[5]

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."[6]

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."[7]

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.[8][9]

Personal life

Paterson attended Third Day Worship Centre, a church that is non-denominational and evangelical.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ webmaster.rmc (2015-03-23). "Bryan Paterson". www.rmc-cmr.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  2. ^ a b c Schliesmann, Paul (October 27, 2014). "Bryan Paterson prevails". Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  3. ^ Sobel, Chloe (October 28, 2015). "Bryan Paterson elected Kingston's new mayor". The Journal. Queen's University. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  4. ^ "Get to know your 2018 to 2022 council: Mayor Bryan Paterson". Kingstonist - Kingston News | Kingston, ON headlines. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  5. ^ "Election Results - City of Kingston". www.cityofkingston.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  6. ^ "Candidate's church videos removed from YouTube". thewhig. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  7. ^ "Politician Accused of Participating in 'Conversion Therapy' at Former Church". www.vice.com. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  8. ^ Stafford, Tori (2020-09-03). "Community responds to Third Day Worship Centre service videos". Kingstonist News - 100% local, independent news in Kingston, ON. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  9. ^ a b Pinsent, Andrew (2020-09-10). "Kingston mayor steps away from church after pastor calls homosexuality an 'abomination'". Ottawa. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  10. ^ Schliesmann, Paul (October 10, 2014). "Candidate's church videos removed from YouTube". Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
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