Patrick Brown launches Conservative leadership bid
CBC
Patrick Brown officially launched a bid to become the next leader of the federal Conservatives in an event Sunday morning in Brampton, Ont.
"Every battle that I have fought in the past pales to the one ahead of us now," he said in his announcement speech.
Brown, 43, has held positions at all three levels of government. He was a federal Conservative MP for Barrie from 2008 to 2015 before leaving for provincial politics and becoming leader of the Progressive Conservatives that year. He became mayor of Brampton in 2018.
Brown resigned his role as head of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives after he was accused of sexual misconduct in a story published by CTV News in 2018. He has denied the allegations and recently reached a settlement in a defamation suit launched against the network.
A statement released by the broadcaster and Brown said CTV regrets some factual inaccuracies their original story contained. The statement did not specify what those inaccuracies were and a CTV spokesperson declined to elaborate.
The original article includes a correction that updates the age of one of two women who accused Brown of sexual misconduct.
Brown joins a race that is now well underway with several high-profile additions this week, including former Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis. MP Pierre Poilievre entered the race in early February.
Brown is seen as a more centrist option than Poilievre and Lewis. Early in his career, Brown was an admirer of Charest when the latter was leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives, which later merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern Conservative Party of Canada.
Brampton mayor Patrick Brown speaks at a press conference in December 2021. On Sunday, he announced his run to become the next federal Conservative leader. (CBC)
The current Brampton mayor is also thought to be able to draw on a strong political organizing foundation to sell memberships to the federal party. His stronghold in the populous, diverse city of Brampton — part of the wider Greater Toronto Area — is also likely to be part of his pitch to a federal party that has, in the last two elections, racked up wide margins in rural areas of the country but has struggled in urban Canada.
Brown's presence in the race will also provide an interesting policy challenge for party memberships. Brown shifted the provincial PC stance prior to the 2018 election to support a carbon tax. He also led a charge by municipalities to support legal challenges against the controversial Bill 21 in Quebec.
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