Patrick Brown says his sudden disqualification from the race to lead the Conservative Party of Canada is based on a “ghost accusation” of wrongdoing being used as an excuse to ensure Pierre Poilievre’s victory.
The attack further sours what has been an extremely ugly and divisive leadership campaign, and threatens to damage the party’s credibility as it seeks to unify ahead of the next election after three straight losses, experts say.
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Patrick Brown disqualified from the Conservative leadership race
On Tuesday night, the leadership election organizing committee (LEOC) announced that it had voted to disqualify the mayor of Brampton, Ontario, based on what its chairman, Ian Brodie, said they were ” serious allegations of wrongdoing” related to an apparent violation of Canadian elections. Act. The party did not provide further details.
“All we heard from our campaign was that there was an anonymous allegation of someone being paid by a company to work on my campaign,” Brown told Global News in an interview on Wednesday.
“We ask for the name of the company. We ask for the person’s name. They would not divulge that information. Therefore, we did not have the capacity to respond to a phantom and flimsy accusation.”
A source close to the leadership committee told Global News that the allegation involves numbered companies in Brampton paying Brown’s campaign staff, which would violate Election Law. Brown responded that it was more information than he or his campaign had.
Party spokesman Yaroslav Baran told Global News that there have been multiple allegations against the Brown campaign. He said the party reached out “in good faith” and provided opportunities to respond, which the campaign failed to take advantage of.
“There is no way the party can continue with a candidate with a cloud of possible violations of federal law,” Baran said. He declined to provide details on those allegations, citing a possible investigation by Elections Canada.
Brown went further, accusing the party of colluding with Poilievre’s campaign to secure the Ottawa-area MP’s victory in the race, which Brown said was becoming less certain thanks to its membership.
“We’re calling this for what it is: This is Pierre Poilievre’s campaign who doesn’t want a fair election,” he said. “They want a coronation. And I don’t think that’s good for Canadian democracy.”
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Patrick Brown, disqualified from the CPC race, also faces problems with the mayor of Brampton
Poilievre’s campaign denied any role in the accusation or disqualification and accused Brown of trying to “become a victim.”
“As it currently stands, the only people who know the true extent of what caused Patrick’s disqualification are Patrick and the (leadership election organizing committee),” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Poilievre, long considered the favorite in the race, has traded attacks with Brown since the opening days of the season. More recently, Brown’s team accused Poilievre’s camp of using misleading emails to drive membership sales, which Poilievre has denied.
Brown’s removal leaves Poilievre at the head of a shrinking field that still includes former Quebec premier Jean Charest, Conservative MPs Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison, and Roman Baber, a former independent member of the legislature. from Ont.
A campaign statement from Charest, considered Poilievre’s closest rival, said Brown’s ouster and the accusations against him were “deeply troubling” and called for transparency from the party.
“Party members deserve the truth,” the statement said.
Conservative political strategist Tim Powers said in an interview that the party could be damaged by continuing to withhold information from the public.
“I think the Conservative Party has to publicly share the information it has, or it will lose credibility,” he said. “I don’t doubt the decision, but I think they should paint a picture of what led them to make this decision and why.”
Former Conservative communications director Cory Hann said Brown’s disqualification, particularly given the timing, his strong support and the potential for a top-three finish, means the allegation was probably serious enough and the match was not taken lightly.
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But he agreed that more transparency is needed from both sides.
“I think it would be up to everyone in this situation to maybe elaborate a little bit more on what they knew,” he told Global News. “That includes the Patrick Brown campaign. That includes the ESWL.
“I understand there will be a difference of opinion within LEOC about how much they should and shouldn’t disclose, but I would say, as I often did during my time there, that sunlight is the best disinfectant in this case.”
Where does the race go from here?
Policy pundits say disqualifying Brown will benefit not only Poilievre but also Charest, who may garner support from more moderate members influenced by Brown.
Both Charest and Brown have positioned themselves as more progressive Conservatives who were more likely to unite the party and win the next election by attracting voters who may be put off by Poilievre’s aggressive, centre-right approach.
However, Poilievre has proven popular with rank-and-file voters and claims to have secured more than 300,000 new members, which would be unheard of for any previous leadership candidate.
Without Brown, the race will focus even more on a showdown between Poilievre and Charest.
“To the extent that there is going to be an ‘anyone but Pierre Poilievre’ campaign, this would seem to suggest that (those) people will join Charest,” said Andrew McDougall, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
While Brown will not be able to participate in the race, his name will appear on the final ballot, as the party has already mailed many.
Last week, the party said some 675,000 members had registered to vote for a new leader of the Conservatives. The party described this as an unprecedented number for any federal political party.
The party will announce the winner of the race on September 10.
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Brown’s campaign alleges Poilievre’s team sent ‘misleading’ emails to boost memberships
Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus in the political science department at the University of Toronto, said the turmoil surrounding Brown and other accusations made in this and previous leadership contests could force the party to rethink how it chooses its leaders.
“We could go back to the system that was around 40, 50 years ago, and that is, let the caucus members decide who their leader is,” he said in an interview.
“Right now, there are not many incentives to work under party rules. Because what is the party? The party is all these instant members who have had nothing to do with the party.”
Brown said he is still exploring his legal options, but the party’s election rules leave no apparent appeal.
He said the more than 150,000 members his campaign claims to have signed up for have been disenfranchised.
“We felt like we were going to win this lead,” he said.
— with files from Abigail Bimman of Global, Kyle Benning and Canadian Press
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