Brampton political officials say it’s time for Patrick Brown to leave town
Published July 6, 2022 at 5:17 pm
It’s time for Patrick Brown to decide between Brampton and his political aspirations.
That is the feeling from a number his colleagues on city council who today spoke out about the many controversies that are swirling around the mayor.
Some have even suggested, privately, that it is time for Brown to step away from all political activity after events in the past 24-hours which saw him kicked out of the federal Conservative leadership race and the cancellation of yet another Brampton city council meeting.
“Patrick Brown has got to go,” a Brampton city official told insauga.com. “Brampton has become totally dysfunctional. He (Brown) wants to be the Prime Minister of Canada, but he can’t resolve the issues right here. It’s time for him to step away, take a break maybe, because this isn’t working. He needs to leave Brampton out of this mess.”
A quick poll of several Brampton councillors and other local officials show they also believe it is time for Brown to step back from official Brampton duties especially when he is mired so deeply in political in-fighting that is far removed from the day-to-day operation of the city.
Still, despite their feelings, some who spoke with insauga.com would only speak anonymously because they fear political repercussions if they talk publicly.
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“Brampton has become a place where governance takes a back seat to backroom agenda’s,” said another official. “Brown should think long and hard about how all of this is affecting Brampton and the work we do here.”
While many who spoke to insauga.com didn’t question Brown’s political ability, suggesting he is a good mayor when he dedicates all of his energy to the cause, they said he has become a lightning rod for controversy…something Brampton doesn’t need after years of corruption allegations during past and current political regimes.
Issues came to a head when late last night the federal Conservative leadership suddenly announced Brown was no longer eligible to run for the party leadership over irregularities in his campaign surrounding finances and the alleged use of Brampton city staff to work on his campaign.
As well, for the fourth time, a Brampton city council meeting has been cancelled because of a split over how a vacant seat on council will be filled.
For his part, Brown believes the issues are part of the politically-charged arena he finds himself in.
He blames in-fighting on the national level for his disqualification from the Conservative leadership race. He specifically blamed Pierre Poilievre for being behind the ouster, saying the leadership front runner was afraid of the momentum the Brown campaign has been receiving.
As well, Brown says his removal from the race is based on anonymous allegations and that little detail has been given surrounding these allegations.
“There was no due process,” Brown told reporters. “We don’t know what we are up against, who accused us. But I can assure you this campaign did nothing wrong.”
Brown denied that Brampton city staff were working on his leadership campaign during office hours.
In a released statement Poilievre’s campaign said that Brown was trying to “make himself into a victim” adding that it was not behind the allegations brought against Brown.
Jean Charest, who is also seeking the Conservative leadership, said in statement the information being released by both sides of the debate are troubling.
“We must ensure integrity of the process,” said Charest. “Party members deserve the truth. We need to understand what the allegations are, how Patrick Brown’s campaign responded and why (the party) took such drastic action. Transparency is paramount.”
On the local level, Brown says the split at council is justified as he believes opponents are not following the rules behind filling the vacant council seat left behind when Charmaine Williams successfully ran in the recent provincial election of Brampton Centre.
Late today five Brampton councillors released a statement indicating that Brown’s activities has caused chaos and disruption for the city.
Signed by councillors Pat Fortini, Martin Medeiros, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, Doug Whillans and Jeff Bowman, the letter suggests that Brown’s activities have cast a negative light on Brampton through an “alarming pattern of behaviour.”
“Once again, our great city is in the national news for all the wrong reasons because of Patrick Brown,” the letter reads. “While the Conservative Party of Canada was investigating serious allegations of election fraud that led to his disqualification, a majority group of Brampton Councillors initiated forensic investigations into allegations of financial irregularities, nepotism and possible backroom contract irregularities under Patrick Brown’s failed leadership.”
Speaking to reporters outside of Brampton city hall, Bowman said that Brown’s divided loyalties have gotten in the way of city business as he campaigns for the leadership across the country.
As for the cancellation of city council meetings, Medeiros said the disruption has caused delays in the day-to-day business of running Brampton.
Brown has said his legal team is looking at his disqualification from the leadership race and will decide what course of action he will take. He also said if he is not allowed to pursue the leadership of the federal Conservatives he will turn his attention to running for re-election as mayor of Brampton.
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