Brampton city council members are now raising concerns over whether local resources may have been used for Patrick Brown’s Conservative Party leadership campaign.
Brown, who is also mayor of Brampton, was disqualified from the race Tuesday night after the party’s Leadership Elections Organizing Committee (LEOC) said it learned of “serious allegations of wrongdoing ” by the Brown campaign.
However, Brown has denied such allegations, calling them “politically corrupt” and relying on an anonymous allegation backed by supporters of his rival Pierre Poilievre.
“My campaign did nothing wrong. And I can tell you that if we learn of anything that is wrong, we will address it immediately,” Brown told CTV’s Evan Solomon on his first broadcast on Wednesday morning. interview after his disqualification.
Deputy Mayor Martin Medeiros said a whistleblower recently came forward to some council members and submitted information about resources being used for Brown’s Conservative Party election.
“The City of Brampton’s reputation is really suffering. We have been dragged into a situation that was not (because of) our decision,” Medeiros said.
“The city of Brampton should not be a second or third option. This is not a place where people go when all else fails and the city of Brampton has to be put in a positive light and has to be front and center in any decision making. And our concern right now is the reputational damage it’s having, it’s almost a cloud over City Hall.”
Regional Councilor Gurpreet Singh Dhillon said he has heard from his constituents that they feel “things are being covered up”.
‘POLITICAL CORRUPTION’
Ian Brodie, president of LEOC, said in a written statement that the allegations against Brown relate to the funding rules of the Canada Elections Act, but he did not provide further details.
“The information provided to date by the Patrick Brown campaign has not satisfied concerns about its compliance with our Rules and Procedures and/or the Canada Elections Act. Therefore, the Director of Scrutiny has recommended to LEOC that LEOC disqualify Patrick Brown and tonight LEOC agreed to do so,” Brodie said.
“Throughout the investigation of these allegations, the Canvassing Director and I have done everything possible to be fair to Patrick Brown’s leadership campaign and give them the time they need to substantively refute these allegations.”
Broadie added that the party will share its information with Elections Canada.
Brown, however, disputes the accusations, saying the move is an attempt by the party to kick him out of the race in favor of Poilievre, the longtime Ottawa-area MP who is considered one of the favorites in the race.
“Clearly the party establishment wanted Pierre. I am amazed that they have taken such extraordinary measures to rob party members of a democratic election based on an anonymous tip that we have no information about,” Brown said.
“Our campaign was told that there is an allegation that a corporation was paying someone to work on my campaign, but we have no information on who it was or who that corporation was. So it’s impossible to answer to a ghost.”
Brown added that he was a candidate who called Poilievre, which the party did not like.
“I don’t think his campaign liked that. I don’t think the party establishment liked that. His association with Pat King. I was the first person to mention that video of him with Pat King and Pat King’s story of hate and bigotry,” Brown said.
Brown added that the move is “politically corrupt” and baseless based on an “anonymous accusation.”
“We said we have no idea what they are talking about. We need to know who is the individual, who is the corporation, and we could investigate.”
MEMBERS OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY WILL RECEIVE BALLOTS SOON
It is unclear whether Brown’s name will appear on the Conservative Party leadership ballot when members receive it in the mail in the coming weeks.
The winner is expected to be announced at a convention in Ottawa on September 10.
Brown says he’s disappointed he won’t be able to continue in the race.
“I am disappointed because I wanted to build a moderate and inclusive Conservative Party, I was determined to build the Conservative Party where it doesn’t matter who you love, where you were born, the color of your skin, what God you are. adoration,” he said.
This is the second time Brown has left a Conservative leadership race, after he resigned in
2018 due to sexual misconduct allegations that he denied.
Last week, the Conservative Party said some 675,000 members had registered to vote for a new leader, which they described as a record number for any federal political party.
With Canadian Press archives