Gary Bennett (politician)

Gary Bennett is a Canadian politician and businessman notable for his service as mayor of Kingston, Ontario, from 1994 to 2000. ^[1] In 2022, Bennett was a candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the provincial election, placing third with 24.56% of the vote. ^[2]

Work and education

Bennett graduated from Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute in 1972. He later earned an Honours BA in Political Science and a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University at Kingston. He has been involved with the riding associations of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, its successor the Conservative Party of Canada, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.

Local councillor

Bennett began serving on Kingston City Council after being elected as the city councillor for St. Lawrence Ward in 1988. From 1988 to 1994, he served two consecutive terms as councillor for the St. Lawrence district in the City of Kingston.

During his time on the council, Bennett served on various civic boards within the region. He was also active in the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), serving on the Large Urban Caucus.

Mayor

Bennett was elected to two terms as mayor of the City of Kingston, serving his first term from 1994 to 1997. As head of the council, he participated in the initiative to create the new City of Kingston through the amalgamation of the former City of Kingston, Kingston Township, and Pittsburgh Township. The area reached a locally negotiated agreement on amalgamation, which was not universally achieved in Ontario. As part of the amalgamation agreement, the local Public Utilities Commission was also assumed by the new City of Kingston. Bennett served as the last mayor of the former City of Kingston.

In 1996, during his first term in office, Bennett spoke at the yearly gravesite ceremony honouring Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, who is also a Kingston resident. His address was later published by the Kingston Historical Society. ^{[3] [ full citation needed ]}

Bennett was elected in 1997 as the first mayor of the newly amalgamated City of Kingston, serving from 1997 to 2000. During his term, the city responded to a locally declared civic emergency, the Ice Storm of 1998. During his term, the city established a yearly capital surcharge on all property tax classes. Bennet also chaired a local United Way campaign.

Bennett ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2000, losing to Isabel Turner. Challenges associated with the new city's first post-amalgamation government were cited as a factor in the election outcome. ^{[4] [ full citation needed ]}

Provincial politics

On June 11, 2017, Bennett was nominated to represent the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in Kingston and the Islands in the 2018 provincial election. He succeeded against three other challengers for the nomination but was defeated in the subsequent provincial election, placing third behind the NDP and Liberal candidates. ^{[5] [6]}

v t e 2022 Ontario general election : Kingston and the Islands
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ted Hsu	18,360	37.66	+10.14	$75,749
	New Democratic	Mary Rita Holland	15,186	31.15	−8.00	$130,691
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Bennett	11,973	24.56	−1.52	$62,419
	Green	Zachary Typhair	1,601	3.28	−3.14	$15,397
	Ontario Party	Shalea Beckwith	827	1.70		$7,396
	New Blue	Stephen Skyvington	429	0.88		$7,078
	Independent	Shelley Joanne Galloway	130	0.27		$0
	Communist	Sebastian Vaillancourt	123	0.25		$0
	Consensus Ontario	Laurel Claus Johnson	120	0.25		$0
Total valid votes/expense limit			48,749	99.49		$146,496
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			249	0.51	−0.40
Turnout			48,998	46.84	−10.45
Eligible voters			104,601
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+9.07
Source(s) "Data Explorer". Elections Ontario. 2025.

v t e 2018 Ontario general election : Kingston and the Islands
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Ian Arthur	21,788	39.16	+9.73
	Liberal	Sophie Kiwala	15,312	27.52	−14.54
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Bennett	14,512	26.08	+5.28
	Green	Robert Kiley	3,574	6.42	−0.81
	Libertarian	Heather Cunningham	274	0.49
	Trillium	Andre Imbeault	184	0.33
Total valid votes			55,644	99.09
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			510	0.91
Turnout			56,154	57.29
Eligible voters			98,020
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+12.14
Source: Elections Ontario [7]

References

1. "Board of Directors | Ontario Trillium Foundation". otf.ca. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
2. MacAlpine, Ian (June 3, 2022). "Gary Bennett not part of Progressive Conservative blue wave". The Kingston Whig Standard.
3. Historic Kingston Vol. 45 January 1997
4. Kingston Whig Standard November 14th, 2000
5. "Former mayor Bennett to represent PCS".
6. "Gary Bennett not part of Progressive Conservative blue wave". thewhig. Archived from the original on 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
7. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 16 January 2019.