Will Mayor Patrick Brown run again in Brampton or set sights on Ottawa?
Published February 4, 2022 at 1:57 pm
As the Conservative Party of Canada deals with the fallout of Wednesday’s ouster of Erin O’Toole, Mayor Patrick Brown won’t say if he’ll run again in Brampton or chase after the party leadership.
But Brown didn’t take either option off the table in an interview on Friday with insauag.com publisher Khaled Iwamura.
“I just think that conversation is premature, but I would say I’m very happy in Brampton,” Brown said when asked whether he’ll run again for mayor of Brampton.
“I love my job as mayor of the city. And I love serving the city, so these events happened rather rapidly and I haven’t had a chance to really give it appropriate thought.”
On Wednesday, a majority of Conservative MPs voted to remove O’Toole in a secret ballot vote. He was replaced by interim leader Manitoba MP Candice Bergen after just 18 months.
Just hours before O’Toole was ousted as party leader on Wedneday, Brown said he wouldn’t “get into hypotheticals” and that he is staying the course with “getting Brampton reopened.”
The city is scheduled for a municipal election in October.
And while Brown said it was too early to tell whether he would seek re-election or turn his political eyes elsewhere, he did say the prospect of heading back to Ottawa has been a topic of conversation within party ranks.
“Obviously I have friends in the conservative movement who’ve called and made suggestions, but right now I’m focused on getting our city reopened, getting our city back on our feet and haven’t had conversations seriously about what’s next,” Brown said.
“I just need to focus on the job at hand right now, and that’s getting our city reopened.”
If Brown throws his hat into the leadership ring and wins, it won’t be the first time he headed to Ottawa professionally.
Brown served three terms as an MP for the riding of Barrie before becoming leader of the Progressive Conservative Party on Ontario.
But in 2018, Brown was ousted over allegations of sexual misconduct which the mayor has denied and were never a police matter.
Brown was then replaced as leader by Doug Ford, who was elected premier some six months later.
Should Brown decide to run again for Brampton’s Mayorship, the first day to file official nomination forms is May 2.
INsauga's Editorial Standards and Policies