BREAKING: Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is running for Conservative Party leadership
In a crowded and packed audience at the Queen’s Manor Event Centre in Brampton, Ontario, in front of the slogan “Mayor Brown: Fighter, Leader, Winner”, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown announced he is running to become the next leader of the federal Conservative Party.
Brown, 43, has had an interesting political career to say the least. He formerly served as a city councillor and Member of Parliament for Barrie, a provincial leader for the Ontario Conservatives until he was ousted from that position in January 2018 over allegation of sexual assault.
He subsequently ran for Brampton mayor that same year and won, defeating then incumbent Linda Jeffrey. Under Brown’s tenure, the city has had four years of tax freezes and ‘balanced budgets’ as the mayor claims, although this has left various projects and services financially on hold, or on life support…all the while facing accusations that he has been leading an ‘autocratic’ government by members of his own city council.
Brown was also suing CTV for $8 million in a libel suit with accusations of defamation from the sexual assault allegation story led to his provincial political ouster. He and CTV recently settled this lawsuit, with no money exchanged, which many say cleared the way for this current leadership run.
Other candidates that have declared include current MPs Pierre Poilievre (Carleton), Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk), Independent provincial MPP Roman Baber (who was kicked out of Doug Ford’s PC governing caucus for opposing COVID-19 restrictions) and former Quebec premier Jean Charest.
“There will be no safe seats in the country for the Liberals under me”, Brown said, saying under his leadership the Conservatives can ‘actually’ be competitive in the GTA, leaning on his past record as Ontario leader when the provincial PCs won ridings such as Scarborough-Rouge River, which had elected Liberals for years.
Brown also leaned heavily into his experience running Brampton, one of the most diverse cities in the country, saying that religious freedom for all faiths will be defended under a Conservative government led by him. He added that past positions on a ‘barbaric cultural practices hotline’ and the niqab ban were mistakes the party made, and said he will be fighting hard on Quebec’s Bill 21 which bans religious symbols for all provincial civil servants.
Before launching this leadership campaign, Brown was calling on municipal governments across the country to provide financial assistance to a lawsuit contesting Bill 21, of which Brampton contributed $100,000. The mayor said he could unite the party and lead it to victory.
Some notable names in the audience for Brown’s launch include:
Brampton Wards 3 and 4 Regional Councillor Martin Medeiros
Mississauga Ward 10 Councillor Sue McFadden
Richmond Hill Regional Councillor Joe DiPaola, who once ran as a federal Conservative candidate.
MP Kyle Seeback (Dufferin-Caledon) and Senator Salma Ataullahjan, both of whom endorsed Brown for leader.
Former Liberal MP and Toronto mayoral candidate John Nunziata
This would be the third leadership contest the Conservatives have had in the last five years. Former leader Erin O’Toole, who assumed the post in 2020 but failed to lead the Tories to government in the 2021 federal election, was recently removed by an internal vote within caucus by a margin of 73 to 45 votes and resigned shortly after.
Deep diving into Brown’s campaign launch
Mayor Brown took no questions from the media, as his spokesperson said there would be no media scrum after the event. The mayor did say for the duration of this leadership campaign, he would be donating his paycheque as mayor to non profit organizations such as the Osler Foundation and Khalsa Aid.
It was a rather convenient attempt to deflect one obvious question: is Brown not running for mayor again? Nominations for municipal candidates in Ontario start May 2 and end August 19; this Conservative leadership race ends on September 10. Either Brown is all in on this leadership contest and not running again for mayor, or somehow finesse his way into both electoral contest, which seems highly unlikely.
And if Brown somehow did win the Conservative leadership, but kept his name on the ballot municipally, the city would face a conundrum of having a ridiculous popular mayor still as an official candidate while he is serving as a federal leader. What would happen if Brown, not campaigning municipally at all…ends up winning reelection, the way Hazel McCallion of Mississauga used to do it?
Medeiros, along with fellow Brampton regional councillor Pat Fortini, were recently appointed deputy mayors for the duration of this council term, with Fortini representing the eastern portion of the city and Medeiros representing the west portion. “The Deputy Mayor position will act on behalf of the Mayor in the event the Mayor is unavailable and will have all the powers and duties of the Mayor, with respect to the role of presiding over meetings,” Fortini said in a statement.
Normally these positions wouldn’t really warrant more than a passing notice, but if Brown is going to be campaigning across the country, Medeiros and Fortini exercising their new roles will certainly become more important as the mayor’s expected absence becomes more prevalent….which would give both men some higher profile as potential mayoral candidates themselves.
Finally, let’s examine the viability of Patrick Brown’s appeal as a federal leadership candidate. He was never in cabinet under former prime minister Stephen Harper, and his fall from grace during his provincial leadership tenure is well documented.
It’s no wonder his slogan emphasize that he is MAYOR BROWN, not just plain ol’ Patrick from Brampton by way of Barrie. Being a mayor gets you more attention in 2022 than it would have twenty years ago, since our attention on municipal affairs has increased.
Brown’s former political mentor is Charest and both men are seen as more on the moderate, centrist wing of the Conservatives, if such a faction in that party still exists. Poilievre is right now the one speaking the loudest, but is clearly more identified as the more modern, right leaning Conservative that currently makes up the party’s base.
Since this is going to be a ranked ballot selection process, Brown and Charest have room to expand their support, especially on second or third ballot choices. The possibility is there, and only time will tell.
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