CTV News has expressed “regrets” over a 2018 story about then Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown with “factually incorrect” information that caused “harm” to his provincial political career.
In a settlement Wednesday, CTV acknowledged the story, which alleged sexual impropriety with two women, “required correction.” After the story was broadcast, Brown strongly denied the allegations and filed an $8-million defamation suit against the network’s parent company, Bellmedia.
“Patrick Brown and CTV have resolved their legal dispute,” according to a statement agreed upon by the two parties.
“On Jan. 24, 2018, four months before a provincial election, CTV broadcast a segment concerning Patrick Brown. Key details provided to CTV for the story were factually incorrect and required correction,” it continues.
“CTV National News regrets including those details in the story and any harm this may have caused to Mr. Brown.”
Both Brown and CTV said they would have no further comment on the settlement or any other terms.
The resolution ends four years of headline-making litigation and clears the way for Brown, who is now the mayor of Brampton, to seek the federal Conservative leadership.
On Tuesday, Brown confirmed to John Moore on Newstalk 1010 that he’s exploring a bid to lead the federal party.
Brown was a Tory MP before jumping to provincial politics in 2015. He is regarded as one of the party’s top organizers with a vast network of contacts across Canada, especially among cultural communities.
Sources told the Star he could enter the contest as early as this week.
So far, there are only two official candidates, MP Pierre Poilievre (Carleton) and MP Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk), who ran in 2020. Former Quebec premier and one-time federal Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest is expected to announce his bid Thursday.
In January 2018, Brown stepped down as PC leader hours after CTV broadcast the story.
It was a dramatic night of regicide at Queen’s Park, as Brown quit under pressure from caucus members who were concerned about their own prospects in the looming June 2018 campaign.
His successor as Ontario PC leader was Doug Ford, a one-term Toronto city councilor with no political experience at the provincial level. Ford was elected premier in a majority government, and is now seeking re-election on June 2.
While the CTV story cut short Brown’s 2015-18 tenure as Tory leader, it did not end his political career.
In October 2018, he was elected mayor of Brampton, unseating incumbent Linda Jeffrey in an upset victory.
Brown’s legal action argued the network “falsely, maliciously, unfairly and irresponsibly broadcast” a story that cost him his job as leader of the Opposition while Liberal Kathleen Wynne was premier.
In an emotional, 81-second news conference at Queen’s Park on Jan. 24, 2018 — held just 15 minutes before the CTV story was broadcast — the distraught leader denied any wrongdoing.
But nearly all of his staff and campaign aides resigned that night, and he quit as party leader.
His lawyers argued Brown was “ambushed… mere hours before” the newscast and “had no reasonable time to respond.”
At the time, CTV reported that one of the women who alleged misconduct against Brown said she was in high school when she met him at a bar.
But the woman later revised her recollection, telling the network that she was 19 years old, not 18, at the time of the alleged encounter.
The entire episode is recounted in his autobiography, “Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown.”
That controversial book was critical of the media and some provincial Conservatives, including current cabinet ministers Vic Fedeli and Lisa MacLeod, as well as Brown’s chief of staff, campaign manager, advertising expert and press secretary, all of whom resigned. It also detailed the personal toll on his family from him.
Brown is now a married father of two young children. In an interview with the Star to mark the first anniversary of his defenestration of him, he was philosophical.
“When I look back at 2018 it’s with fondness,” he said in 2019, pointing to his marriage to Genevieve Gualtieri.
“In hockey, you get bodychecked, you get knocked down, you get back up,” he said. “I got hit pretty hard — I got leveled like a truck with those allegations — but in adversity it’s an opportunity to show what you’re made of, too.”
The federal Conservative contest has been heating up in recent days.
Candidates must pay a $200,000 entry fee as well as a $100,000 refundable deposit. The deadline for entry is April 19 and membership sales are open until June 3 with the new leader elected by Sept. 10.
MP Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound—Muskoka), MPP Roman Baber (York Centre), and former MP Leona Alleslev are also considering runs.
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