Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives to pick interim leader today
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives say they will select an interim leader today to replace Patrick Brown, who stepped down amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The party’s deputy leaders would not say, however, whether the person they choose would lead them in the scheduled June election or if a leadership race would be held before then, saying only that caucus members would need to have those discussions.
Deputy leader Sylvia Jones told a news conference Thursday that the party is moving on and is focused on getting ready for the campaign.
“Four months out from an election, we appreciate, we understand, that you cannot have these allegations out there. We dealt with that last night. Now let us deal with what we need to do moving forward tomorrow,” she said.
“We are prepared, we are ready and we will have a plan when we meet tomorrow.”
She called the allegations against Brown “a shock,” and said caucus unanimously supported his decision to step down. It will be up to caucus and the party’s interim leader to decide if Brown can run in the upcoming election, Jones said.
Brown announced he was stepping down in a statement issued early Thursday morning, following a hastily called news conference in which he “categorically” denied what he called “troubling allegations” about his conduct and his character.
The allegations, which have not been verified by The Canadian Press, were made by two women who spoke to CTV News.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, meanwhile, said she will not seek a snap election, noting that it’s too early to know what impact Brown’s resignation will have on the province’s political landscape.
The premier would not comment specifically on the allegations levelled against Brown but broadly denounced sexual assault and harassment.
“This is not about politics,” Wynne said. “I think that many of us feel very shaken by what we heard last night ... There are obviously lots of political questions that are going to come forward. I honestly feel that right now I’m thinking about this in my role as a mother, as a daughter, as a community leader.”
“It is really, really important that we understand how deeply troubling this is to human beings, to people,” Wynne said. “This is a human problem...this is about creating safety.”
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath also said there was more at stake than the upcoming election.
“This is not about me and it’s not about my campaign,” she said.
“This is about women coming forward and calling out behaviour that they experienced and I have to say I was pretty disgusted by what I heard in terms of their story.”