Disqualified Candidate Patrick Brown Says He Will Vote for Jean Charest in Tory Leadership Race If Appeal Fails

Candidates Patrick Brown, left, Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison, Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest and Roman Baber, pose for photos after the French-language Conservative Leadership debate May 25, 2022, in Laval, Que. (The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz)

Disqualified Conservative Party leadership candidate Patrick Brown will vote for former Quebec premier Jean Charest if he fails in his bid to be reinstated, his campaign has announced.

In a July 12 letter to supporters, Brown’s campaign says there’s a “strong likelihood” that the appeal won’t succeed before the vote.

Party members have already started receiving their mail-in ballots, which need to be returned to the party before 5 pm EST on Sept. 6. Brown’s name appears on the ballots.

If the appeal fails, “Patrick has been clear he would support any new leader of the CPC [Conservative Party of Canada] except Pierre Poilievre,” says the letter.

The Toronto Star reported early in the race that Brown and Charest, who are longtime friends, had allegedly made a pact to ensure either one would become leader, but Charest disputed this in late April.

“Patrick came into politics while I was leader of the Federal party, and we’re friends and I have a lot of respect for Patrick. We do get along, but there is no particular deal,” Charest told insauga.com.

The Brown campaign also commented on other contenders, saying that Brown has “high regard” for MP Leslyn Lewis and “great admiration” for MP Scott Aitchison.

“But at the end of the day Jean Charest has the best chance to stop Pierre Poilievre extremism,” it said.

Brown and Charest have argued that Poilievre’s policy proposals are not moderate enough to win a general election and have criticized his brand of conservatism.

Other candidates Lewis and Roman Baber, a former Ontario MPP, share many views with Poilievre, including on the issue of individual freedoms.

Poilievre has claimed he signed up over 300,000 new members before the June deadline. The Conservative Party has 675,000 members in total.

Disqualification

Brown was disqualified by the CPC Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) based on what the committee says are “credible” and “verifiable” allegations that he violated campaign rules and the Canada Elections Act.

LEOC says the Brown campaign was given time to address the allegations but its response was not satisfactory.

Brown countered that he could not respond properly to a “phantom allegation.”

“All we know is there’s an anonymous allegation that a corporation was paying someone who worked on my campaign,” Brown told CTV News on July 6.

The next day, a whistleblower working within Brown’s campaign came forward with details about the allegation.

Debra Jodoin, who served as a regional organizer, said Brown had made a deal for Jodoin to be paid by a corporation while volunteering for the campaign.

“He connected me by text message with a third-party for that purpose. I trusted him, but as time went on I became increasingly concerned with the arrangement and suspected it was not OK,” she said via her lawyer in a July 7 statement.

It’s illegal for companies in Canada to donate to a campaign, directly or indirectly by paying campaign staff.

In the July 12 letter, the Brown campaign says it was disqualified because of a “flawed process” meant to prevent people like Brown from gaining influence within the party.

Brown has retained high-profile lawyer Marie Henein for his appeal and potential legal action against the CPC.

The CPC has brought in outside lawyers to review the appeal process.