Ontario Finance Minister Threatens to Sue Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown

Mayor Patrick Brown may potentially be facing a libel lawsuit from Ontario’s Finance Minister, Vic Fedeli.

Mayor Patrick Brown may potentially be facing a libel lawsuit from Ontario’s Finance Minister, Vic Fedeli.

In Brown’s book, titled Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown, he makes statements regarding a sexual misconduct complaint allegedly made against Fedeli.

Fedeli’s lawyer has since requested that these statements be removed from the book, citing libel and threatening legal action.

In a statement to inbrampton.com, Brown calls the request “perplexing” and claims that the sexual misconduct complaint has already been verified.

“I did receive a lawyers letter requesting my publisher remove the reference in ‘Take Down’ which mentions a sexual misconduct complaint was made against Vic Fedeli,” Brown said, “which is perplexing as the CBC has already independently verified that a complaint was indeed made.”

Brown refers to a CBC News article about his book published on November 14, 2018, the same day his book was published.

The book’s publisher, Optimum Publishing International, states that they were surprised by the request made by Fedeli’s lawyer.

“We are not alleging anything against Mr. Fedeli in the book and simply provided an anecdotal story that was illustrative of the author’s perceived hypocrisy at Queen’s Park,” the publisher wrote in a statement.

At this time, Fedeli has not issued a formal statement regarding Brown’s book or the possibility of a lawsuit against Brown.

In Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown, Brown details his political career and some of the difficulties he faced, including his own experiences with sexual misconduct allegations.

The book was published several weeks after Brown was elected Mayor of Brampton on October 22, 2018.

We’ll update with more information on this story as it develops.