Conservative leadership: Brown accuses party of stepping down without proof

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Former Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader Patrick Brown will not be able to be a Conservative leader at the federal level. On Tuesday evening, the party’s executive director disqualified the mayor of Brampton from the race over allegations from his campaign team that he violated financial rules under Canada’s election law. The party is accused of wanting to win Pierre Boulevard, leading him out of the race without proof.

“In recent weeks, our party has become aware of serious allegations of wrongdoing by the Patrick Brown campaign that appear to violate the rules governing the financial provisions of the Canadian Elections Act,” said Ian Brody, chair of the organizing committee. .

In a statement released late Tuesday night, Ian Brody said the Chief Election Officer (CEO) had contacted Patrick Brown’s team about suspicions, but that “the information passed did not address concerns about compliance with our rules and procedures and/or Election Canada represents.”

Therefore, the CEO of the Commission for the Organization of Leadership Elections (COEC) recommended that the CEC dismiss Patrick Brown. And Brody said earlier in the evening, the COEC accepted the CEO’s recommendation and dismissed him.

The National Post Reports indicate that there are serious allegations of a private company helping to pay the salaries of Mr Brown’s campaign staff. Chisholm Potheer, an Ontario politician, denounced these were anonymous, baseless allegations.

“Our campaign has not been given full details or evidence of these allegations, in violation of a basic due process requirement. In recent days, the party has embarked on a fishing expedition to obtain the information we have fully cooperated with through our lawyers. This decision was not subject to due process and an unprecedented reversal of the burden of proof has been applied to our campaign.”

In the same statement, the candidate’s team said that it learned about this meeting between the party and the chief election officer through the media, adding that he did not have the opportunity to defend himself. Ian Brody says ample time has been given to refute these allegations by former Queens Park representatives.

“We regret having to take these actions, but we have an obligation to ensure compliance with both party rules and federal law by all candidates and their campaign teams.”

To make Poilievre win?

But for Patrick Brown’s bodyguard, this is a celebratory pass for favorite Pierre Poilifri.

“He was expecting a culmination for Pierre Poilievre. When the final count for membership came, it became clear that Poilievre did not have the points needed to win this race. Trying to silence Canadians and circumvent democratic values ​​through this baseless dispossession is the only way to secure victory. . »

Patrick Brown and his bodyguard say they are consulting with their legal team. Erin O’Toole’s successor will be known on September 10. Conservative forces announce that it generated the interest of 675,000 registered members for this race, a record number that is double the number of registered members for the last race in 2019. Pierre Boulevard claims to have collected 312,000 members alone.