Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who was kicked out of the Conservative Party leadership race in early July, will once again be running for mayor of the suburban Toronto city in the next municipal election on October 24. . The Ontario politician made the announcement Monday in front of City Hall.
“Brampton is an amazing place to live. It’s a mosaic of the world,” said the candidate, accompanied by his wife, children and municipal councilors who support him. Patrick Brown became mayor of Brampton in October 2018, just under a year after stepping down as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. The Ontarian faced allegations of sexual misconduct in January 2018.
Patrick Brown sought to return to politics as soon as he resigned as leader of the Ontario Conservatives. In the winter of 2018, he began writing a book in which he attacked his opponents within the Progressive Conservative Party, before launching himself into the race for mayor. A second book, this time on his exclusion from the Conservative Party, is “in preparation”, says its editor Dean Baxendale, of the publishing house Optimum Publishing International.
The Ontario politician was disqualified from the leadership race on July 5, four months after running. In a statement, Ian Brodie, the chairman of the leadership election organizing committee, said in a statement that the leadership contestant appeared to violate rules governing the financial provisions of the Canada Elections Act during the campaign. According to Dean Baxendale, the disqualification of its author was orchestrated by certain members of the Conservative Party.
At a press conference Monday, the mayor of Brampton said he had committed no wrongdoing in the leadership race and that he was confident that the firm Henein Hutchison, which is defending him in the case, would confirm it. “There were no violations of the Canada Elections Act,” Patrick Brown said Monday. The Ontario politician now says he supports the leadership campaign of Scott Aitchison and Jean Charest, who he says espouse more moderate values.
The mayor also attacked Bill 21 on the secularism of the state during his conference. “No one should lose their job because they wear a religious sign. I will always speak out on these types of issues,” he said. While serving on the Peel Regional Police Board of Directors, in 2019 the mayor voted in favor of a motion encouraging the recruitment of Quebec police officers affected by the law. However, no Quebecers answered the call.
A predictable decision
Mayor Brown’s decision to run for a second term came as no surprise to his former opponent, Linda Jeffrey, who served as mayor from 2014-2018. provincial and federal politics,” she says. “I’m sure he did some polls to determine if he has a chance of winning or not,” says Linda Jeffrey. In 2018, Patrick Brown was elected with 44.4% of the vote, while Linda Jeffrey had the support of 40.7% of voters.
“After what happened in the leadership race, the marie was the natural choice,” suggests Dean Baxendale.
Several controversies surfaced during his four years as mayor. In December, the local Chamber of Commerce denounced the municipal budget, noting that the City lacked “financial discipline”. In February, councilors claimed the mayor’s style of governance was “authoritarian”. A group of four councilors are now asking the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Attorney General of Ontario to investigate the mayor. The latter, they claim, would have used public funds for his leadership campaign.
If a strong candidate does not run against him, Patrick Brown could be elected mayor again, Linda Jeffrey thinks, even if he faces various allegations. “Patrick Brown works well in the field,” she observes. “I’ve always wanted to mentor a South Asian candidate to become mayor,” says Linda Jeffrey. In 2016, 52% of Brampton residents were born outside of Canada. The majority were from India.
According to Linda Jeffrey, Liberal Party MP Ruby Sahota could be a candidate against Mayor Brown in the next election. Ruby Sahota has, according to the former mayor, as good an understanding as Patrick Brown of the political system and how to convince voters to vote on election day. “You never know, she might give him his money’s worth,” says Linda Jeffrey.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.