Patrick Brown disqualified from Conservative leadership race
CBC
With two months to go before the Conservative Party chooses its next leader, one of the main contenders has been ejected from the race.
In statement released late Tuesday night, the party's leadership committee said Brown is being disqualified after "serious allegations of wrongdoing" related to financing rules.
The statement did not offer specific details of those allegations but said Brown's campaign was given a chance to address the concerns.
According to the statement from leadership committee chair Ian Brodie, the information offered by Brown's campaign "did not satisfy concerns" and the decision was made Tuesday night to disqualify him.
"We regret having to take these steps but we have an obligation to ensure that both our party's rules and federal law are respected by all candidates and campaign teams," said the statement from Ian Brodie, head of the Conservative Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee, which oversees the race.
Those involved did their best to be fair to Brown and his campaign and give them time to substantively refute the allegations, he added.
"None of these problems has any impact on the integrity of the vote itself," said Brodie.
The party will share the information it has with Elections Canada.
CBC News has contacted the Brown campaign seeking comment on the allegations.
The news is a bombshell in an already tumultuous race filled with personal barbs. Brown, who is currently the mayor of Brampton, Ont, has run under the slogan "fighter, leader, winner" and relentlessly attacked the presumed frontrunner in the race, Pierre Poilievre.
Brown was one of six contenders for the leadership.
