Brown was accused in public, and has the right to defend himself in public
How could you, Patrick? How could you do this to your own party?
That basically sums up the reaction of Ontario Progressive Conservative party leaders after the dramatic announcement last Friday that the disgraced former party leader had decided to jump into the race for the very job he was ran out of only weeks ago. (As of this writing it was not yet known if his candidacy would be accepted).
Many believe that Brown’s entry in the race amid sexual abuse allegations could tear the party apart and further damage its electoral prospects. And this from the very people who had no qualms abandoning him moments after a pair of women accused him of sexual misconduct — which he denies.
Leadership candidates Caroline Mulroney and Doug Ford suggested the party is better without him. To drive home the point, interim leader Vic Fedeli expelled his former leader from the party caucus.
“Patrick Brown made the right decision to step down. A leadership election is not the place for him to clear his name,” Mulroney said.
Why not? Where, one might ask, is the best place for Brown to clear his name? The issue is not whether Brown is guilty or innocent. That’s a matter for the courts, if it ever gets there. But if his accusers have the right — as they do — to make public the alleged abuse, have him judged in the court of public opinion and forced to resign, so he also have the right to defend himself in the same arena.
Politics is unforgiving, and what the Progressive Conservative party did is within the norm. Political leaders are held to a higher standard than other mortals, and so they should be. Election or not, once the sexual misconduct allegations became public — true or false — Brown was done as leader. A politician with such allegations hanging over him cannot be an effective leader, and no party can put up with such a situation. Brown’s resignation, even forced as it was, recognized that reality. The party had to clear house and move on.
That doesn’t mean Brown, who says the allegations are false, has to accept the decision and fade away, especially with his political career in tatters and his reputation in the sewer. He has every right to fight back to clear his name by whatever means he chooses.
Yes, Brown’s chosen path is rather unusual. A party leader forced out because of misconduct doing a 180-degree turn to get his job back? That’s probably unheard of. Does it smack of desperation? Perhaps. Could it be payback, an effort to harm his party? Possibly. Is there any chance Brown will win the leadership contest? Probably not. But does someone accused of such egregious misconduct and assumed to be guilty have the right to use all means possible to defend himself ? Absolutely.
Sure, Brown’s run is akin to him lobbing a grenade into the leadership campaign. It will no doubt keep the allegations in the headlines and divide the party at a time when it needs unity. But the Progressive Conservative party cannot summarily dump Brown on a mere allegation, have society judge him guilty instantly, then dictate how he clears his name.
Obviously, the last chapter on Brown’s run has not been written. His expulsion from the Progressive Conservative caucus leaves no doubt that the party wants nothing to do with him.
And given the party has the power to vet leadership candidates, there may yet be more twists in this sorry saga.
For now, Brown’s leadership run is in full flight, and judging by reports of his first campaign event in Mississauga, he appears to have considerable support in the party. Whether he lasts or not remains to be seen, but there is no better place to judge him than the crucible of a campaign. The Ontario PCs may suffer as a result, but whatever the fallout, we may be forced to rethink how we deal with people facing such allegations. There may be a lesson in this mess for all of us.