OTTAWA-
A Conservative committee reviewing Patrick Brown’s disqualification from the leadership race concluded the party had the evidence it needed to recommend his withdrawal from the race.
Its decision, released Friday night, contains new allegations that Brown used warrants to purchase memberships and authorized the sale of non-compliant memberships through a portal.
“Mr. Brown has had ample opportunity to address these serious concerns,” Ian Brodie, chairman of the party’s leadership election organizing committee, said in a statement.
The committee stunned party members and Canadians earlier this month when it voted 11-6 to drop Brown from the race. Brown has since launched his campaign for re-election as mayor of Brampton, Ont.
Brown’s attorney had filed a notice of appeal of the decision to oust him, which the party said was based on a recommendation from its returning officer.
A Dispute Resolution Appeals Panel was to decide whether the officer had the evidence to recommend Brown’s dismissal.
It says the evidence included allegations that Brown authorized more than 500 non-compliant membership sales.
“Correspondence on this issue from the candidate indicates both an unwillingness and an inability to provide the (chief returning officer) with information about who was accessing the portal to register memberships that the (party) had deemed non-compliant,” said the ruling said.
He said Brown left the issue pending for two weeks and gave “noncommittal answers.”
The decision also responds to an allegation that Brown violated federal election law, which was brought to the party by a whistleblower.
After Brown’s ouster, Debbie Jodoin, a longtime party organizer, came forward as the one to speak, alleging that Brown arranged for a third-party company to pay her to work on her campaign. .
Brown denied wrongdoing and said the party did not provide enough details about his campaign for him to respond properly.
In its ruling, the disputes committee says the party offered Brown a chance to provide exculpatory evidence. “He didn’t,” the ruling reads.
“Instead, the candidate offered an explanation of innocent error and an offer to reimburse all company expenses involved. This is an apology, not exculpatory evidence.”
The ruling says the party has reviewed the allegations Brown faced, as well as how he responded.
Regarding money order issues, the Disputes Committee said the party had received 78 money orders attached to membership forms that appeared to be from the same person.
The ruling says Brown told the party he raised the issue with the individual in question, who said the allegation was false.
He says the party ended up with reports that Brown’s campaign had improperly bought memberships.
“When confronted with this evidence, the candidate simply chose to deny the allegation without providing a satisfactory explanation,” the ruling reads.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 22, 2022.
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