“The party establishment was nervous that Pierre Poilievre wasn’t going to win. And his supporters, supporters of Pierre Poilievre, are the ones behind this exclusion,” Patrick Brown told host Vassy Kapelos on Power & CBC News Network’s Politics on Wednesday. “They know we’ve brought in 150,000 highly motivated young Conservatives from different communities. They wanted to take the party on a different version, a different path, from the extreme Conservatism version.” Brown said his decision to take positions “that the party has not taken before” made some in the party “uncomfortable” and sparked a backlash against him. “I said very clearly, it doesn’t matter who you love, where you are born, the color of your skin, which God you worship. We will fight for everyone. I said that I would attend the pride parades, I would challenge Islamophobia,” he said. Brown was kicked out of the Conservative Party leadership race on Tuesday night by the party’s Leadership Elections Organizing Committee (LEOC). The commission said Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ont., withdrew from the race in response to “serious allegations of wrongdoing” related to funding rules. Sources told CBC News there are allegations that at least one company paid some of Brown’s campaign workers. The sources said LEOC’s decision to terminate Brown was based on more than verbal allegations and cited documents and financial records. The sources said Brown’s campaign was informed of the allegations verbally last Wednesday, and then in a formal letter — in accordance with party leadership rules — on Thursday. Brown’s campaign responded to that letter on Friday. WATCH: Patrick Brown speaks out after being dropped from Conservative leadership race
Patrick Brown speaks out after being dropped from the Conservative leadership race
In an interview with CBC’s Vasi Capello, Brown says the allegations against his campaign amount to a targeted attack by other candidates in the race. When pressed by Kapelos for evidence to support his claim that Poilievre’s group was behind his ouster, Brown claimed the Ontario MP’s supporters at the LEOC were pushing for his ouster. “In addition, members of Pierre’s campaign had even contacted my campaign chairman, John Reynolds, that they would be successful in pursuing this,” Brown told Capello. Poilievre’s campaign issued a statement saying Brown withdrew from the race because of “credible” allegations and rejecting his claim that the congressman’s supporters sabotaged his campaign. “As always, when he gets caught, Patrick tries to play the victim, but ultimately the only person responsible for his disqualification is himself.” Brown said that while he was presented with allegations that a member of his campaign was being paid by a private company, he was not given details that would allow his team to conduct its own investigation or properly respond to the allegations. “We had 1,800 volunteers working across the country and we told the party we had no idea what this anonymous claim was,” he said. “If someone was working on our campaign during business hours on behalf of a company, we would deal with it immediately. “But really, we were in a position where we had to respond to a phantom claim with no names, no details, and that’s impossible to do.”
More transparency is needed
Conservative strategist Shakir Chambers, principal at Earnscliffe Strategies, told CBC News that Brown’s exit from the race was shocking and would likely make it easier for Poilievre to win on the first ballot. He also said he wants to hear details of the allegations against Brown before party members start voting. “More transparency would be better,” he said. “I think if people could actually know what’s going on, it would help remove any division or any question that would follow this story and linger for weeks.” Meanwhile, five Brampton councilors released a statement Wednesday alleging that Brown hired staff and awarded contracts to companies that were unqualified but had close ties to the mayor himself. “Democracy in Brampton is under siege because of Patrick Brown,” the statement said. “It’s time to reveal the truth and help us protect Brampton’s hardworking taxpayers.” Brown said the five councilors released the statement at the behest of Poilievre’s campaign in an effort to “create a disturbance in Brampton” and that the allegations contained in the statement have already been addressed. “It was investigated by Deloitte,” Brown said. “I supported the investigation and Deloitte found there was no wrongdoing at all. These are allegations against our previous CEO and I’m glad it was investigated. I’m glad the allegations were dismissed.” Statement on Patrick Brown by five Brampton councilors who launched a series of forensic investigations into allegations of widespread wrongdoing under his leadership. pic.twitter.com/aOqRpXLkS6 —@sangrewal1
