Patrick Brown

Thursday March 24, 2022

March 24, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 24, 2022

Patrick Brown and Jean Charest have a deal that could make one of them the next Conservative leader

November 28, 2017

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown — who is expected to announce his bid Sunday — and former Quebec premier Jean Charest — who launches his candidacy Thursday — have forged a pact, sources familiar with the strategy tell the Star. Opinion by althiaraj

Brampton’s mayor and the former Quebec premier have forged a pact in the federal Conservative leadership race, sources say.

Brown and Charest — who launches his candidacy Thursday — have forged a pact, sources familiar with the strategy tell the Star. Could it lead the party to elect a more moderate leader?The men have been friends for more than 25 years. Brown credits his involvement with the Conservatives to Charest, whom he met as a teenager while visiting his aunt, Charest’s next-door neighbour in North Hatley, Que.

The two have spoken at length about the leadership race. I’m told to expect neither will say a bad word about the other — a non-aggression pact, if you will — and that they will “publicly” help one another.Their goals are similarly aligned: a united but more inclusive party that represents the country. Each anticipates the other’s supporters will mark him as their second choice on the party’s ranked ballots, and they may make that expectation clear when members start receiving their ballots this summer.

Tuesday March 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 8, 2022

Who’s in, who’s out, and who else might join the Conservative Party leadership race

With Sept. 10 picked as the date for when the Conservative Party of Canada will have a new leader, time is ticking for prospective candidates and their teams to get into place. Those running have until April 19 to throw their hat into the ring and until June 3 to sell memberships.

Here’s a look at the contest so far:

March 3, 2022

IN: Pierre Poilievre: The 42-year-old Ottawa-area MP and well-known Conservative declared his candidacy almost one month ago. He has begun fundraising and holding events. At one, he pledged to cancel the federal carbon tax.

May 24, 2012

CONSIDERING: Jean Charest: The former Quebec premier who led the federal Progressive Conservatives in the mid-1990s is considering a run. He recently held a reception for MPs and senators in Ottawa and met with more of them one-on-one. He says he wanted to see the rules of the race before making a final decision.

Saturday December 18, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 18, 2021

Toronto city council votes to help fight Quebec’s Bill 21 in court after Brampton calls for support

September 17, 2019

Toronto city council unanimously voted in support of helping to fund a legal fight against Quebec’s law restricting religious symbols Thursday, after Brampton called on other Canadian cities to join in the initiative.

John Tory, the mayor of Canada’s largest city, said in a tweet he would put the request to council Thursday, repeating that both he and city council have repeatedly voiced opposition to Quebec’s secularism law, known as Bill 21.

On Thursday, city council unanimously voted in favour of the motion to reaffirm the city’s opposition to the bill. City council will also contribute $100,000 to support the joint legal challenge to the bill being brought by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

“Today, city council made it very clear that Toronto stands with municipalities from across Canada in opposition to Bill 21 and in support of the legal challenge against this bill,” Tory said in a news release Thursday. 

October 3, 2019

“We cannot simply stand by as Torontonians and Canadians and see a law like this diminish the protection and respect accorded religious and other basic freedoms by our Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms.”

He also  encouraged other cities to join the fight to “uphold the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Tory was adding his voice to an initiative from Brampton city council, which also voted Wednesday to contribute $100,000 to challenging the Quebec law and encouraged other cities to donate.

Adopted in June 2019, Bill 21 prohibits the wearing of religious symbols such as hijabs, kippas and turbans by teachers and other government employees deemed to be in positions of authority. Debate over the law was revived this month with news that a teacher in Chelsea, Que., had been reassigned because of her hijab.

Patrick Brown Retrospective

Brampton calls itself one of the most diverse communities in Canada and says it wants to show its support for what diversity brings to local communities and Canada as a whole.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calls Bill 21 discriminatory and says freedom of religion is a fundamental principle that must be upheld.

Since Brown called on other cities to get involved, several communities across the country have indicated their support for his initiative and will put requests for funding to their respective councils.

By late Wednesday afternoon, the motion had already won the support of Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek. (CBC) 

 

2018: Ontario in Review

December 15, 2017
January 23, 2018
February 21, 2018
February 28, 2018
May 23, 2018
June 5, 2018
July 11, 2018
July 28, 2018

Extra Gallery

February 1, 2018
February 3, 2018
February 8, 2018
March 2, 2018
March 13, 2018
June 11, 2014
April 18, 2018
May 5, 2018
May 8, 2018
May 26, 2018
May 31, 2018
June 7, 2018
June 21, 2018
June 27, 2018
June 22, 2018
August 9, 2018
August 24, 2018
August 31, 2018
September 7, 2018
September 19, 2018
October 24, 2018
November 17, 2018
November 27, 2018
December 11, 2018

2017 Ontario Year in Review

Thursday November 15, 2018

November 15, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 15, 2018

Patrick Brown cites sexual misconduct allegation against Ontario finance minister in new book

Former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown comes out swinging in a new tell-all memoir, claiming the province’s current finance minister, Vic Fedeli, has also been the subject of a sexual misconduct allegation.

July 28, 2018

Brown’s new book also contains allegations that his former party spied on him as far back as 2015.

Entitled Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown, the book follows Brown’s rise in politics, starting with his nine-year-old self writing a letter to then-prime minister Brian Mulroney and ending with reflections on his life after his abrupt resignation as Progressive-Conservative leader earlier this year, following allegations of sexual misconduct.

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” Brown told CBC News in sit-down interview, describing the night he was forced to resign.

“It’s like being run over by a truck. You can never be prepared for that.”

Brown, who from the scandal and was elected mayor of the City of Brampton in October, takes aim in the book at a number of PC caucus members and former staffers, and claims he was stabbed in the back by those in his inner circle.

Patrick Brown Retrospective

Brown is in the midst of an $8-million defamation lawsuit against CTV News for publishing the original story detailing the allegations against him, which he has always denied. CTV has filed a statement of defence. The case has not yet been heard in court.

In the years prior to Brown’s resignation, there were questions within the PCs about his ability to lead them to an election victory in 2018.

In the book, Brown frequently describes himself as a “red conservative.” He writes that he felt disliked by the party for his more progressive stance on issues such as gay marriage, climate change and the carbon tax.

At one point in the book, Brown offers advice to the new premier.

“I would say to Ford that the social conservatives are dinosaurs who are becoming less and less relevant every single day,” Brown writes.  (Source: Toronto Star)