Brampton Mayor Brown to make Conservative leadership race decision ‘very soon’

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says he’s days away from announcing if he’ll run for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

With three current leadership hopefuls in the running for party leadership, Brown says to “stay tuned” for an upcoming announcement on whether he’ll set sights on Ottawa.

“I’m going to make a decision very soon, and I certainly believe that I need to make a decision in the coming days given the fact that the race has already started,” Brown said in a press conference on Wednesday.

“But you’ll have to stay tuned, and I’ll have an update on that for you on that very soon,” he added.

With a $200,000 entry fee on top of a $100,000 deposit, the leadership vote is scheduled for Sept. 10. Potential candidates have until April 19 to throw their hats into the ring.

And while the CPC leadership vote is in September, Brampton is also scheduled for a municipal election in October.

Brown has yet to announce whether he will run again for mayor or seek the CPC leadership, but should Brown decide to run again in Brampton the first day to file official nomination forms is May 2.

Mayor Brown previously told insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura that he is considering a run for the CPC leadership but couldn’t commit to a decision until details of the race were finalised.

The CPC leadership race was triggered after a majority of Conservative MPs voted to remove O’Toole after just 18 months as leader in a secret ballot last month, with Manitoba MP Candice Bergen stepping in as interim leader.

So far there are three candidates in the CPC race – Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre, Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Leslyn Lewis and Independent MPP for Toronto York Centre Roman Baber.

Lewis came in third in the 2020 leadership race and saw heavy backing from the party’s social conservative members and those in Western Canada.

Baber was elected as an MPP in the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus but was booted by Premier Doug Ford after speaking out against COVID-19 lockdowns in January 2021. He was also barred from running for the party in Ontario’s upcoming election in June.

Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest is also reportedly planning to enter the race on Thursday.

With files from the Canadian Press