Patrick Brown announces he's running to be Brampton's mayor again

Patrick Brown announced he is running for mayor of Brampton again on Monday morning.

The city's incumbent mayor announced the bid just weeks after he was kicked out of the federal Conservative Party leadership contest.

Brown speaking outside Brampton city hall. You can watch that news conference live in this story.

Brown is seeking his second term as mayor after he was elected first in 2018. His re-election bid comes at a time when Brampton city council is divided on his leadership.

"I just wanted to inform everyone that after talking to my family, we've decided to put my name in again for Mayor of Brampton," Brown said at the news conference.

"It's been the greatest privilege to serve the city over the last four years, and I'm looking forward to the next four years."

He joins Jermaine Chambers, Vidya Sagar Gautam, and Cody Vatcher in the mayoral race.

Earlier this month, Brown was disqualified from the race to be leader of the federal Conservative party over allegations related to an apparent breach of the financing rules in the Canada Elections Act.

The Conservatives' leadership election organizing committee has been tight-lipped about the nature of the allegations, though Brown and his campaign have denied any wrongdoing. They are currently appealing the decision.A woman identifying herself as the whistleblower in the campaign says she personally discussed with Brown an arrangement for her to be paid by a private company, and that he approved. 

Shortly after he was disqualified from the CPC leadership race, a group of five Brampton councillors penned a statement saying "Democracy in Brampton is under siege because of Patrick Brown."

In the letter, they cited financial and contract irregularities during his time as mayor. They also voted for an investigation into contracts relating to a full university for Brampton.

A report by the city's interim chief administrative officer in May found that $629,000 went to four vendors involved with the project, but staff were unable to find the final product for five of the "deliverables" identified in the expenses.

Five councillors wrote most of the money went to one firm, which employed a close associate of Brown.

Brown responded that it's an attempt of councillors to distract from their contrary motion to fill a seat vacancy. A group of five councillors voted to appoint Elaine Moore, a former city and regional councillor, in former councillor Charmaine Williams' seat, after she was elected to Queen's Park in the latest provincial election.