Brampton, Ont. Mayor Patrick Brown says he will seek another term as mayor of Brampton following his disqualification from the Conservative Party of Canada’s leadership race.
Brown made the announcement Monday morning in front of Brampton’s city hall.
“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.
“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.
Brown was first elected as mayor in 2018 and in recent weeks, city councillors have publicly opposed his leadership, even going as far as calling on the RCMP to investigate him.
Earlier this month, four Brampton city councillors, including two deputy mayors, called on the RCMP to investigate Brown’s financial dealings.
“We need an outside authority, not controlled by Brown, to conduct a thorough investigation,” reads a letter signed by councillors Pat Fortini, Martin Medeiros, Jeff Bowman and Gurpreet Singh Dhillon.
Brown and supporting city councillors are alleged to have shut down four council meetings where discussions surrounding forensic investigations into the mayor’s conduct were meant to take place.
“At least one man in Brown’s inner circle who worked on his federal campaign, worked for a firm that received more than $500,000 from City Hall. Staff are unable to determine how this amount was approved under Brown or what work was completed for the money paid by Brampton taxpayers,” wrote the four councillors.
They claim that there are multiple other “questionable” city contracts and evidence linked to Brown’s Conservative Party of Canada leadership campaign.
On July 5, the Conservative party’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee disqualified Brown for alleged violations of financial provisions of the Canada Election Act, as well as the rules of the leadership race.
Brown’s former campaign regional organizer Debbie Jodoin alleged that the Brown campaign was paying her through a corporation, which is prohibited by Canada’s election laws.
During Monday’s announcement, Brown told reporters that the Conservative party did not want to have a “free and fair election.” He said he is still reviewing his legal options to “expose” the party.
Jermaine Chambers, Vidya Sagar Gautam and Cody Vatcher have also announced their intentions to run for Brampton mayor.
