Conservative Party Leadership | The disqualification of Patrick Brown makes react

(Ottawa) Pierre Poilievre rubs his hands, Jean Charest wants to “get to the bottom of things”. The two leading candidates in the Conservative Party leadership race reacted very differently to the shock announcement of the disqualification of Patrick Brown.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

The portrait of the Conservative leadership race has just changed dramatically just under two months before the election, with the disqualification of Patrick Brown, current mayor of Brampton, who had had his fill of new members as part of of the competition.

Saying it has become aware of “serious allegations of wrongdoing by the Patrick Brown campaign which appear to violate the rules governing the financial arrangements of the Canada Elections Act », the Organizing Committee for the Election of the Leader (COEC) put him out of the game.

As a reaction, the presumed leader of this race, Pierre Poilievre, drove the point home.

“As always, when he gets caught, Patrick tries to pose as a victim, but at the end of the day, the only person responsible for his disqualification is himself,” he cursed in a statement transmitted on the social networks.

“At this time, the only people who know the true extent of what caused Patrick’s disqualification are Patrick and the COEC. I encourage you to contact the COEC to get the full story on the extent of its misdeeds,” continued the MP for Carleton.

For his part, Jean Charest expressed his desire to know more about this case.

“The claims by the COEC and the Patrick Brown campaign are deeply troubling. We need to get to the bottom of things as quickly as possible. We absolutely have to ensure the integrity of the process. Members deserve to know the truth,” he insisted in a written statement.

“We need to know the nature of the allegations, how Patrick Brown’s campaign responded to them and why the COEC took such drastic action. Transparency is paramount,” continued the former premier of Quebec.

Organizing Committee Chairman Ian Brodie said he understood members’ curiosity, but noted that as “this matter is now under full investigation, we will not be commenting further on this issue.” .

“We regret having to take these steps, but we have an obligation to ensure compliance with both our Party rules and federal law by all candidates and their campaign teams. None of these difficulties have consequences for the integrity of the vote itself,” he wrote on Tuesday evening.

What impact on the race?

The elimination of Patrick Brown increases the number of candidates vying for the position to five.

In addition to Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison and Roman Barber are in the running.

The disqualification of Patrick Brown could help Pierre Poilievre amass a sufficient number of votes to be crowned in the first ballot, on September 10. A simple majority is required to win the vote.

Behind the scenes, in the Charest camp, we assure not to be worried.

“It doesn’t change anything, since we are going to win. We have the best on-the-ground organizers in the country and we are confident that our voting outing will be led by our extremely motivated team.