Brampton councillor to Brown: Make up your mind on municipal race
Mayor running for Conservative leadership
• A city hall opponent is asking Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown to confirm what his rivals for the federal Conservative leadership also want to know: which race will he actually finish?
Brown is in the midst of a leadership campaign, but that does not preclude him from running again for mayor this fall.
“In my opinion, Mayor Brown needs to choose one path — either the leader of the Conservative party, or running for re-election as Mayor of Brampton,” said Councillor Jeff Bowman, who is part of a group of five councillors that has been critical of Brown's leadership in recent years.
If Brown were to run for re- election as mayor, he would have to decide before Aug. 19 — three weeks before the new federal Conservative leader is announced on Sept. 10.
If he loses his leadership bid, he would still have enough time to campaign to stay on as mayor, since the municipal election is on Oct. 24.
But his team made it clear that a municipal race is not his intention — at the moment.
“Patrick is focused on leadership, is confident of victory and is making no plans to run for mayor,” said Brown's spokesman, Chisholm Pothier, in a statement to the National Post.
Unless Pierre Poilievre wins the Tory leadership.
“He has been clear that he would not run federally under Pierre Poilievre and if it became obvious as we approached the end of summer that Poilievre was going to win, he would consider another run for mayor as he wouldn't be running federally,” he added.
Deputy mayor Pat Fortini said that he thinks Brown is still weighing his options and might keep the suspense going in Brampton until the very last day that he can enter the race for mayor. But that decision could give the impression he does not think he will win the leadership contest, he said.
“If he decides to put his name on the last day, on August 19, as mayor, I don't think it'll look too good for him on the leadership come September 10,” said Fortini.
Bowman argued that Brown has “not clearly ruled out running” for mayor again, and said he has made it clear that it is not his preferred option in terms of his political future. He also accused him of preventing other potential candidates from entering the mayoral contest.
“This city is not the bronze medal in this contest. Either it is the gold, number one priority, or it is not,” said Bowman.
“If it clearly is not, it's time the mayor steps aside to give other people considering the position a real chance to put together a team, generate funding and begin the campaign to represent the residents.”
Pothier said that “absolutely nothing” precludes anyone else from running for mayor.
The Ontario Municipal Elections Act does not require an elected city official to step down if they are seeking election at another level. That was the case as well for former Brampton city councillor Charmaine Williams, who recently was elected in Doug Ford's government.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, thinks that the Act should be revisited to disqualify elected officials from running for another position without stepping down.
That is the case in the Parliament of Canada Act, which forbids a member of the legislature of any province from being elected in the House of Commons.
“You can't be sitting as a member of the municipal council while running for the leadership of a federal party. (Brown) should have been required to take a leave without pay and then he could return afterwards,” said Conacher.
“He's not doing his mayoral duties full time. So why is he being paid the full amount?”
Brown has said when he launched his Conservative leadership campaign in March that he would donate his paycheque as mayor to charities for the duration of the race, but Conacher said it “shouldn't be his choice” to voluntarily give his pay.
Fortini predicts that Brown will not have much competition if he decides to run again as mayor and that he will most likely win if he does because he is a tireless campaigner.
Two relative unknowns have registered to enter the mayoral race: Cody Vatcher, a young electrician in his 20s, and Vidya Sagar Gautam, a screening operations manager who unsuccessfully ran for city council and regional chair in past years.
Sources have told the National Post that other candidates, including deputy mayor Martin Medeiros, could also put their name forward should Brown decide not to run again.
Medeiros did not respond to interview requests from the National Post.