BROWN PLANS TO RUN FOR LEADER
Former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown says he is fighting to reclaim his old job after receiving a wave of support from party members since he resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Brown officially joined the race to lead the Tories late Friday shortly before a registration deadline and Elections Ontario now lists him as one of five candidates vying for the party’s top post.
Speaking at the party headquarters, the Barrie, Ont., politician said he is not running for his own benefit.
“This isn’t about me, this isn’t about the PC party, this is about making sure that on June 7, the Progressive Conservative party is successful,” he said.
“The support we’ve been getting across the province has just been so encouraging — the amount of candidates, the amount of party volunteers, riding presidents who have reached out — frankly, it changed my opinion. this is not what I was thinking about but the support of the party membership has really inspired me.”
Earlier, Alise Mills, a spokeswoman for Brown originally called in to help him combat sexual-misconduct charges he calls malicious lies, said, “It’s something he very much wants to do. Is this going to be a fight? For sure. The position he won fair and square the first time was taken away from him unfairly. Now he’s going to do it all over again.”
Brown has the $100,000 entry fee for the race, and the requisite signatures from party members who support him, said Mills.
Rules for the leadership still require him to be vetted as an appropriate candidate by party officials.
The dramatic news of his entry in the leadership election came after a flurry of developments Friday.
A day after Brown suggested he never officially resigned as Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, an audio recording surfaced in which he tells caucus colleagues Jan. 24 he was stepping down, and had an aide prepare a resignation letter.
Meanwhile, Tory interim leader Vic Fedeli announced Friday that he had expelled Brown from the Conservative caucus he led until last month.
A caucus source confirmed to the National Post that the recording of Brown was of a conference call he had with Tory MPPs after his emotional, late-night news conference about sexual-misconduct allegations against him on Jan. 24.
Brown said in an interview with Global TV Thursday that a resignation letter was sent out later that night by staff without his permission.
But in the recording , while refuting the misconduct charges, he says he does not want to remain an “obstacle” to the Conservatives’ election chances, and had asked an assistant to draft a statement that he is quitting.
“Despite the fact this is character assassination, these are false allegations, I don’t want any of us to be set back on our mission to defeat Kathleen Wynne,” Brown says on the tape. “I want nothing more than you all being successful in replacing this corrupt government.”
“When you work 20 hours a day like I do on defeating this government, I would never want to be an obstacle to defeating this government,” Brown continues.
“And I’ve asked Rebecca (Thomson, his then director of communications) to prepare a statement that I will resign and I’ve asked her to figure out at what point tomorrow that is set. She has drafted a statement while you guys were on the call and she can read it to you if you want to hear what we’ve put together so far.”
At that point in the recording, he says “here’s Rebecca,” and a woman’s voice is heard. The audio ends at that point.
Brown’s claim that he did not really resign — with some allies suggesting that means he is still leader — caps a week in which he has fought aggressively to clear his name, and fought back against a party establishment that has largely abandoned him.
Brown has mounted a campaign in recent days to clear his name, alleging two women who spoke out against him in late January were lying and possibly manipulated by his political enemies inside and outside the party. He has also vowed to sue CTV News, which broadcast the allegations. CTV has said it stands by its reporting.
In a brief statement issued Friday, Fedeli said he had asked Brown to “step aside” from the caucus when he first took over as interim chief in late January. Then, Friday morning, he told the ex-leader he was no longer part of the body of elected Conservatives.
“Earlier today, Mr. Brown was notified that he has been removed from the PC caucus effective immediately,” said the statement.
Fedeli said that Brown himself had followed the same process in removing Jack MacLaren from caucus, after a video emerged that appeared to show that member saying his party would repeal Franco-Ontarians’ rights.
Four other candidates — former Tory legislator Christine Elliott, Toronto lawyer and businesswoman Caroline Mulroney, former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford and social conservative advocate Tanya Granic Allen — are already competing to be party leader.
Mulroney and Ford said Brown joining the race is pulling attention away from what should be the party’s real objectives — defeating the Liberals.
“Patrick Brown made the right decision to step down. A leadership election is not the place for him to clear his name,” Mulroney said on Twitter. “Our focus should remain on beating (Premier) Kathleen Wynne in less than 100 days. This is a distraction from that and I am disappointed.”
Ford said in a statement that the party is stronger without Brown, citing a boost in fundraising and memberships since the former leader resigned.
“The Ontario PC Party needs to focus on defeating the (Kathleen) Wynne Liberals in June,” he said.
Elliott also stressed the importance of unity ahead of the spring election.
“With fewer than 100 days, now is a time for unity. I am the leader that can unite the party and beat Kathleen Wynne,” she said in a statement.