Ex-Ontario PC leader Brown eyes return to politics
‘Big lobbying effort to get me to commit to it’
Patrick Brown’s political resurrection may be starting in a suburban metropolis west of Toronto.
The former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, whose sudden resignation and its fallout shook Ontario politics for months this year, says he is being urged to run for chair of Peel region, which encompasses three cities with a population of 1.3 million.
“There has been a big lobbying effort to get me to commit to it,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I’m flattered by the words of encouragement from MPPs … and community activists.”
But Brown said it was “premature” of him to make a decision about whether to run for the position in October’s election, the first where voters have elected the chair directly.
Brown quit as Conservative leader in late January after CTV News aired a report alleging sexually inappropriate behaviour toward two young women, charges he says are completely false, and have led to a libel suit against the network.
He decided not to run for his seat in Barrie — about 100 kilometres from Peel at the closest — after new leader Doug Ford made it clear he would not be allowed back in the PC caucus.
Brown seemed to be leaving public life behind, working as a senior executive at Broadconnect Telecom — owned by friend Laj Prasher — and another company, writing a tell-all book and overseeing the lawsuit.
“I had turned a page,” he admitted Wednesday.
But Brown said he does have roots in Peel. He lives with fiancée Genevieve Gualtieri in the Lorne Park enclave of Mississauga, one of three Peel municipalities; he practised law in Brampton, also part of the region, before becoming a federal MP in 2006; and his father is a prominent criminal defence lawyer in Mississauga.
What’s more, Gualtieri’s uncle, Ford executive Rudy Cuzzetto, was just elected as the Conservative MPP for Mississauga-Lakeshore.
Meanwhile, Brown is already selling his home in Barrie, asking just under $3 million for the lakeside mansion. He said Wednesday the sale came about because of his relocation to Mississauga, not any plans to run for office in Peel.
Ron Starr, a Mississauga city councillor and the apparent front-runner for the chair’s post, said he’s “puzzled” that a politician popular in Barrie would consider running in Peel.
He said he’s heard similar puzzlement about Brown from others in the region, including organizers of events Brown has appeared at lately, such as a Muslim community gathering and Peel police family day.
“It’s like me trying to go down to Queen’s Park and taking your job,” Starr told the Post. “There has to be legitimacy to it … ‘OK, what are you offering?’ ”
Nina Tangri, elected for the Conservatives in Mississauga-Streetsvile, said she’s just taking stock of her own victory in last week’s election.
“If he chooses to run, all the power to him,” Tangri said. “It would make for an interesting race.”
She noted that Peel, which includes largely rural Caledon as well as Brampton and Mississauga, is a physically large area. “Whoever decides to run, they have a lot of room to cover.”
When Brown quit, the Tories called a leadership race, which he temporarily entered. Ford was eventually elected after a hotly disputed vote, then led his party to a majority government in last Thursday’s election.
Brampton and Mississauga were the site of many controversial PC nomination battles, marked by allegations of membership fraud and ballot stuffing, which became an election issue.
Ford has blamed those problems on the atmosphere that took hold under Brown. But the premier-designate himself was accused of buying party memberships for people who would vote for his chosen candidate in the riding where he lives, violating party rules, accusations he denied. Kinga Surma is now the MPP in Etobicoke Centre.
THERE HAS TO BE LEGITIMACY TO IT … ‘OK, WHAT ARE YOU OFFERING?’ — R. STARR