National Post (National Edition)
PATRICK BROWN SEEKS THE JOB HE JUST LOST
FILES PAPERS TO ENTER ONTARIO’S TORY LEADERSHIP RACE
Patrick Brown applied Friday to run for the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership he quit just three weeks ago, adding an almost surreal twist to a wild week of developments — and leaving his party in turmoil as it readies for the June 7 election.
Confirming hours of speculation and rumour, Brown appeared at Tory headquarters in Toronto on Friday afternoon to file his entry papers, just two hours before the 5 p.m. deadline.
He resigned last month after two women accused him of sexual misconduct while he was a federal MP, triggering the leadership race to replace him.
On Friday morning, the member from Barrie, Ont., was even thrown out of the PC caucus by its interim leader, Vic Fedeli.
As he left party offices, Brown suggested that the support he’s received from members of provincial parliament, Tory candidates and volunteers prompted him to run.
“I think my name has been cleared, and now it’s about getting Ontario back on track,” he told reporters. “This is not what I was thinking about, but the support of the party membership has really inspired me … The party membership wants their party back. The party membership doesn’t want to see anything hijacked.”
His candidacy must still be approved by the Conservatives’ nominations committee. The vetting process typically involves undergoing an interview, as well as providing information about family, jobs, homes, social media accounts and community activity, said a party source.
Brown’s dramatic move to re-enter the fray capped a week in which he aggressively fought back against the sex allegations, threatened to sue the TV network that first aired them, suggested he never officially resigned as leader — and reportedly took a lie-detector test on those sex charges.
One party activist called the Brown saga “Canada’s greatest reality show.”
Two of the four other candidates vying to take his job almost immediately condemned his decision, calling it a blow to the party and its election chances.
“Patrick Brown made the right decision to step down. A leadership election is not the place for him to try to clear his name,” said lawyer Caroline Mulroney on Twitter. “Our focus should remain squarely on beating Kathleen Wynne in less than 100 days. This is a distraction from that and I am disappointed.”
In fact, some party activists tried vainly on Friday to dissuade Brown from running, said a member of another contender’s team.
Doug Ford, businessman and former Toronto mayoral candidate, said the party has become “objectively stronger” without Brown as leader.
“Fundraising totals, volunteer, memberships, and lawn sign requests have all risen substantially since he stepped down,” Ford said in a statement. “This is a distraction. Ontario deserves better.”
The party had led Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government in polls before Brown quit, but one survey suggested the Conservatives have actually risen in popularity since his resignation.
Brown dismissed his rivals’ criticism, saying most of them had been “calling every day” to ask for his support.
And an adviser to another leadership candidate is leaving that campaign to join Brown’s, said Alise Mills, a crisis-communications specialist and spokeswoman for Brown.
Brown largely went to ground after he resigned Jan. 24, accused by two young women in a story on CTV of making unwelcome sexual advances while he was a federal MP.
But he emerged last week, first telling Postmedia in an interview that the allegations were “absolutely” false, and offering evidence that the incidents could not have happened.
CTV later admitted that one of his accusers’ story was not entirely accurate. She had originally said Brown picked her up at a bar when she was under drinking age and in high school, plied her with alcohol, then exposed himself and told her to perform oral sex. She later changed that account to say she had been of legal drinking age and had finished secondary school.
As well, a man whom she said had gone to Brown’s house with her told two media outlets he was in fact not present.
The other woman said Brown had kissed her without consent and laid on top of her at his house while she was his intern. Since then an ex-girlfriend of Brown’s and another person have publicly questioned some details of her story.
With an interview on Global TV, Facebook posts and statements by allies, Brown’s counter-offensive became increasingly aggressive over the last few days.
He dared the women to take their allegations to police, said CTV had defamed him and vowed to sue the network, while private investigators worked for his lawyers to ferret out facts.
Most dramatic was a claim he made on Global TV on Thursday — the day of the first leadership debate — that he had not officially quit, his staff having issued a letter of resignation Jan. 24 without his permission. He tweeted separately that the issue was a “technicality,” though allies suggested to media he was still leader.
Then an audio recording surfaced Friday morning challenging that version of events. He can be heard telling caucus colleagues that he would, in fact, step down because “I would never want to be an obstacle to defeating this government.”
For one senior party activist, the flurry of media messages from Brown and his surrogates in recent days — even before his entry in the leadership race — has indeed made him an impediment.
“He should try and clear his name, but not when the party has got a leadership race going and we’re heading into an imminent election,” said the Tory, who’s working on another candidate’s campaign and asked not to be named.
John Mykytyshyn, a PC activist and consultant, agreed events of the last week have appeared at times like “Canada’s greatest reality show.” But he suggested it has brought attention to the party like nothing in recent memory, with largely positive effect.
“It’s completely counterintuitive,” Mykytyshyn said. “We’re getting all this free media attention that should absolutely, logically be hurting the party … (But) the impact is, ‘Wow these political people seem to be more messed up — and interesting — than we would ever have thought.’ And it hasn’t so far hurt our numbers.”
THE IMPACT IS, ‘WOW THESE POLITICAL PEOPLE SEEM TO BE MORE MESSED UP — AND INTERESTING — THAN WE WOULD EVER HAVE THOUGHT.’ AND IT HASN’T SO FAR HURT OUR NUMBERS. — JOHN MYKYTYSHYN, A PC ACTIVIST AND CONSULTANT