Brown takes credit for parts of PC budget

Brampton mayor lists child-care rebate as legacy of his plan Former PC leader Patrick Brown says “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.”

Brampton Mayor and former Ontario PC Party leader Patrick Brown took credit for parts of the Ford government’s first provincial budget following the document’s release last week. The PC government under Premier Doug Ford released its 2019 budget on April11, prompting Brown to draw comparisons to the “People’s Guarantee” — the party’s previous policy and fiscal plan conceived under his watch.

While critical of the budget as mayor of Brampton, he said he was happy to see some of his work in the budget. Brown was elected PC leader in May 2015 and remained in that role until January 2018.

“Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” he told the Brampton Guardian. “From a personal perspective, some of the policy documents that I actually put hundreds of hours of work into were realized. Many people know I wrote the People’s Guarantee, which was released in 2017.”

Brown listed the $100 million low-income dental-care benefit for seniors — which he said his sister wrote — child-care rebate and investments in mental health ($1.9 billion over five years) as legacies of his plan.

“It’s heartening to see some of the policy initiatives that I had worked on during my time in provincial politics realized in this provincial budget,” Brown added.

The premier’s office disagreed.

“The 2019 Budget: ‘Protecting What Matters Most’ was put together by the entire all-star Ontario PC cabinet and caucus, and was based on Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario PC’s Plan for the People that was released during the election campaign. We are proud to say promises made, promises kept,” read an emailed statement from Ford’s office in response to Brown’s claims.

Ford replaced Brown as party leader just months before last June’s provincial election, after Brown resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations originally reported by CTV News in January 2018. Brown categorically denied the allegations and is suing CTV News for $8 million over its initial reporting.

There’s been an ongoing feud between Brown and the party since.

In November 2018, after being elected mayor of Canada’s ninth-largest city, he released a “tell-all” memoir called Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown about his time as leader and eventual split from the party.

Ford publicly criticized Brown after the book’s release. Finance Minister Vic Fedeli has since filed an $8-million lawsuit against Brown for past allegations of sexual impropriety against him made in the book

“He definitely did a disservice to the people of Brampton,” Ford said at the time.