Just like that, Brown turns tables on accusers

The Patrick Brown story is perhaps the wildest reversal of fortune the #MeToo phenomenon has seen to date. And it’s not over yet.

In the early hours of Jan. 25, Brown resigned as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party after his caucus told him he had to go following a CTV News report of two women stepping forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct.

Brown was adamant he’d done no wrong, that the stories were bogus. But in the days following, the man polls had tipped to become the next premier of Ontario went away, keeping a low profile. The premier-inwaiting was persona non grata.

Past became prologue as the party delved into the leadership race. The Brown story was behind them and they were on to greener pastures, ready to finally beat the Liberal machine that had chalked up an increasing number of scandals since they took power in 2003.

Then came the tweet that served as Brown’s warning shot. On Feb. 6, he posted: “#MeToo can be a tool to lift society and I applaud that effort.

False allegations however undermine that good work. The truth will come out. Thank you to all.”

This kick-started chatter among Brown supporters and Ontarians who were perplexed that one news story, citing anonymous claims, was enough to slay a public figure. Even before the tweet, the Toronto Sun had heard from people close to Brown that he was adamant the claims were bogus.

Now Brown is waging the fight of his life to reclaim his reputation. On Wednesday, the CTV News report that caused Brown’s downfall was exposed as inaccurate.

“A key accusation which cost

Patrick Brown the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party — that he plied an underage high school girl with booze — is not true, CTV News now acknowledges,” my colleague Antonella Artuso wrote in her report. If it got that fact wrong, what else did it screw up?

After that story went live, Brown took to Facebook to call out CTV News and call on his two accusers to report their claims to Barrie police, if they’re so certain of them.

Brown isn’t taking it lying down anymore. He’s gone from passive defender to a man on the offence.

This will be a welcome shift for #MeToo critics of both genders who feel that what was once an important cultural phenomenon too quickly became a reckless witch hunt where journalists are too quick to pull the trigger on whatever damning gossip they can get their hands on.

So what does this mean? For the PC leadership race, that’s unclear. While roaming the halls of the Manning Networking Conference last weekend, I was told by a grassroots organizer that she hadn’t decided whom she was supporting yet partially because she was waiting to see if Brown himself entered the race. Similar rumours surfaced throughout the weekend.

If this happened, it would be the ultimate wildcard. It’s hard to say how it would alter the vote breakdown. After all, Brown still has a number of supporters among the nominated candidates and grassroots. But Brown seems too focused on clearing his name to run for leader.

The next question becomes whether or not Brown is allowed by the new leader to run under the Ontario PC banner. When I asked Christine Elliott if she’d sign Brown’s nomination papers, she said she would if he cleared his name. That’s what he’s now working to do. Perhaps we’ll see Brown become a cabinet minister in the next Ontario government instead of premier.

This is also a moment of reflection for journalists. The gossip on Parliament Hill is that eyebrows are being raised about the professional standards employed by the two CTV News reporters who authored the story that led to Brown’s downfall.

Now Patrick Brown is firing back.