TORONTO – Patrick Brown, whose mother and wife are both Italian, is the Mayor of Brampton and, until the middle of the night between June 5 and June 6, also a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership.
Via his lawyers at Henein Hutchison LLP, Patrick Brown formally served notice of intention to appeal the decision by the “Dispute Resolutions Appeals Committee”, Chaired by Don Nightingale, that he (Brown) be disqualified from the Party’s leadership race.
The Party accepted the recommendation. Presumably, his entrance fee of $350,000 will not be refunded to him. From a “practical, logistical” point of view, his approximately 150,000 members who paid their $15 each to join the Party in support of his candidacy are also out of luck. The party will keep the approximately two and a quarter million dollars.
The sources of those funds may be at the centre of the controversy that led to “the investigation” and to his dismissal. No one knows for sure. Walid Soliman, a lawyer, is the Finance Chair of the Brown for Leader campaign.
Heinen Hutchison LLP rejects any allusions to or allegations of impropriety by Patrick Brown or his team. They emphasize: “To be clear, Mr. Brown has engaged in absolutely no misconduct.”
Moreover, they point to the process’ unfairness towards their client. They admonish the Appeals Committee, through Don Nightingale (Chief Returning Officer) for its “refusal to specify the allegations grounding [its] recommendation…”. They add that Patrick Brown “refuted the paltry information [the Appeals Committee] provided and repeatedly asked for particulars.”
On that topic, in an interview on Radio 1010, June 6, Party president Robert Batherson appeared to suggest that his organization had made efforts to resolve issues but that everyone was concerned about the allegations (not proven) and the criminal charges that could be laid once Elections Canada would complete its investigation.
When pressed on the numbers pro and con on the Appeals Committee, Mr. Batherson declined to confirm or deny the alleged votes registered on the dismissal recommendation (11 for, 6 against, and 6 abstentions). He preferred instead to say the matter was now in the hands of Elections Canada, and there is no way to remedy the situation now.
Heinen Hutchison LLP saw the entire process as “Kafkaesque”, “politically motivated” and with a “preordained result”. They served a second letter, a Litigation Hold, to Ian Brodie, Chair of the leadership Election Organizing Committee, advising him and anyone else associated with the decision to prepare and preserve all communications in any platform they may have been a party to in respect of Mr. Brown.
It may be easy to forget that there are five other candidates still in the race and that there are another 530,000 other membership forms that the Party must vet before the vote two months from now.
Meanwhile, all indications suggest Patrick Brown will re-offer for as Mayor of Brampton.
Corriere was unable due to print deadlines to effect a direct interview with the mayor or his Finance Chair.
In the pics above, the letters (EXCLUSIVE CORRIERE CANADESE)
