Patrick Brown disqualified from Conservative leadership race
CBC
With two months to go before the Conservative Party chooses its next leader, Patrick Brown has been ejected from the race over allegations he broke financing rules.
However Brown quickly fired back, saying in a statement early Wednesday that his disqualification is unfounded and an attempt to ensure his rival Pierre Poilievre wins the race.
The bombshell news came in a statement released late Tuesday night by the party's leadership election organizing committee, which said Brown was being disqualified from the race after "serious allegations of wrongdoing" related to financing rules.
"We regret having to take these steps but we have an obligation to ensure that both our party's rules and federal law are respected by all candidates and campaign teams," said the statement from Ian Brodie, head of the Conservative Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee, which oversees the race.
Those involved did their best to be fair to Brown and his campaign, Brodie said, giving them time to substantively refute the allegations.
"None of these problems has any impact on the integrity of the vote itself," he said, adding the party will share the information it has with Elections Canada.
Brown's campaign shot back, saying it only learned of the decision to eject him through the media.
In a statement, the campaign said the allegations against Brown are anonymous and the campaign was never provided the full details of the allegations. However, the statement said the campaign still attempted to respond to the party's questions and claims.
Brown's campaign suggested the "reprehensible, undemocratic behaviour" of disqualifying him was done to benefit the race's presumed front-runner.
"Why is the party doing this? It was expecting a coronation for Pierre Poilievre," the statement said.
"When the final membership numbers came in, it became clear Poilievre did not have the points to win this race.
"The attempt to silence Canadians and skirt democratic values through this unfounded disqualification is the only way to ensure his victory was secured."
The statement said the disqualification is "an embarrassment," suggesting the party is not serious about winning a general election. It added it would consult its legal team.
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