Brown currently serves as the mayor of Brampton, Ont. In the statement, Ian Brodie, chair of the Leadership Elections Organizing Committee (LEOC), states that Brown was disqualified following the chief returning officer’s investigation into allegations against the Brown campaign of violating the finance provisions of the Canada Elections Act.
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The chief returning officer asked Brown’s campaign for a written response and withheld the provisional membership list from his campaign, according to the statement. “The information provided to date by the Patrick Brown campaign has not satisfied concerns about their compliance with our Rules and Procedures and/or the Canada Elections Act,” Brodie writes. Story continues below ad “The Chief Returning Officer therefore recommended that the LEOC debar Patrick Brown and earlier this evening the LEOC agreed to do so.” Brodie added that the Conservatives will share information about Brown’s alleged wrongdoing with Elections Canada. “During the investigation into these allegations, the Director of Returns and I did everything we could to be fair with Patrick Brown’s leadership campaign and give them the time they needed to effectively counter these allegations,” he states. Brody. “We regret having to take these steps, but we have an obligation to ensure that both our Party rules and federal law are followed by all candidates and campaign teams. None of these problems have any bearing on the integrity of the vote itself.” Brodie concluded that the Conservative Party would “not speak further on the matter” as the matter was “subject to further investigation”. Trending Stories
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The current Conservative leadership race follows the resignation of former leader Erin O’Toole on February 2 after a majority of the caucus voted to remove him. 8:10 Poilievre’s claims of selling 310,000 season tickets are not believable: Patrick Brown Poilievre’s claims of selling 310,000 season tickets are not believable: Patrick Brown – June 12, 2022 Early Wednesday morning, Brown’s campaign released a statement through spokesman Chisholm Pothier on Twitter. Story continues below ad The campaign said they only learned about LEOC’s “secret meeting” and their decision to cancel Brown through the media. “We were not present at the meeting, nor were we given an opportunity to defend ourselves before the LEOC,” it states. “This decision is based on anonymous allegations. Our campaign was never provided with the full details or evidence of these allegations, failing even a basic requirement of due process.” Statement from the Brown campaign. pic.twitter.com/gzgpu1yeuB — Chisholm Pothier (@chisholmp) July 6, 2022 The statement further claims that the Conservative Party “expects a coronation for Pierre Poulievre”. Poilievre, who was a senior minister in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government and has served as a member of Parliament for seven terms, is one of five remaining candidates in the leadership race. Story continues below ad “When the final membership numbers came in, it became clear that Poilievre did not have the points to win this race,” Brown’s campaign claimed. “Trying to silence Canadians and undermine democratic values through this baseless blockade is the only way to ensure his victory.” Brown’s campaign said it is currently consulting with its legal team. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.