Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown does not rule out returning to municipal politics if the Conservative leadership race “got to a point where it looked like Pierre (Poilievre) was going to win.”
“But I don’t think we’re close to that point,” Brown said in an interview with Mercedes Stephenson of The West Block.
“I continue to believe that we can win this leadership. I continue to believe that we can defeat Pierre Poilievre and make sure we really have the ability to defeat Justin Trudeau in the next election.”
Read more: 2 Ontario MPs change loyalty from Brown to Poilievre in Conservative leadership race
The timing of the municipal election is uncomfortable for Brown, who has served as mayor of Brampton since 2018 and continues to play that role as he seeks Conservative leadership. The deadline to run for mayor of Brampton is mid-August, a few weeks before the next federal Conservative leader is appointed.
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The issue is hotly debated in conservative circles, but has yet to become a major factor in the federal leadership race.
Although both Brown and Poilievre have served together in Ottawa during Stephen Harper’s years, the animosity between his two camps has been evident since the beginning of the Conservatives’ last leadership career.
Brown accused Poilievre of using a “scorched earth” campaign in his attempt to occupy the party’s main job, and reiterated that he would not run in the federal election under the banner of Carleton’s deputy.
“The fact that I keep attacking my campaign with a scorched earth approach I think speaks to the fact that I don’t have confidence. That doesn’t leave the impression of a confident leader,” Brown said in an interview.
Brown said he has “high regard” for other candidates, including Jean Charest and Leslyn Lewis, and would be “delighted” to run under any of the candidates in the next federal election. But he said he did not believe Poilievre was “eligible” in the regions of the country that the Conservatives must win to form a government.
Read more: Conservatives are confident that the leadership vote will not be delayed despite the increase in members
One of Poilievre’s top advisers, Conservative strategist Jenni Byrne, has repeatedly accused Brown of lying, and the Poilievre campaign posted an ad on social media suggesting that the mayor of Brampton “would say and do anything.” .
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The party’s deadline to register voting members in the September 10 leadership contest came earlier this month, and campaigns are now busy trying to attract existing members to support their bids. leadership.
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In his interview with The West Block, Brown addressed some controversial foreign policy positions he has taken in his leadership candidacy. This includes support for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a position that Canada and its NATO allies have refused to take, for fear of escalating the conflict with Russia.
On Thursday, the party leadership took an unusual step to reassure the leadership campaigns – and members – that the next leader would be announced on September 10 after an unprecedented increase in member sales.
While the Conservative Party itself will not confirm the figures, Poilievre’s campaign has claimed that more than 311,000 members registered through the candidate’s website during the race, while Brown claims to have sold about 150,000 members.
Charest’s campaign assured his followers that they had targeted enough members to make sure they had a “path” to victory, although he refused to publish specific issues. The campaigns of Leslyn Lewis, Scott Aitchison and Roman Baber have not launched their own membership sales turn.
Read more: Conservative leadership career enters new phase as membership approaches
The party has yet to confirm the number of members who will be able to vote in the contest. This is largely because the party does not know it: the various campaigns still have the ability to examine member records and challenge any name they believe has been fraudulently added to the lists.
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Global News reported in May that the party could reach 500,000 members, which would be a record in modern Canadian politics and for the Conservative party, but the party said on Thursday that they expected “well over” more than 600,000 eligible voters. The party pledged to get a final list of eligible voters for the campaigns before July 29th.
Despite the unprecedented figure, party officials said they would be ready to mail ballots to members in late July or early August before the Sept. 10 announcement.
“Due to the party’s recent experience in conducting national leadership elections with hundreds of thousands of members, it has been able to scale operations to manage the increase in membership,” the leadership wrote. party in a press release on Thursday.
The 2022 contest has been a particularly timely and personal campaign, even by the standards of recent Conservative leaders.
Read more: Conservative finance critic says he left the post after MPs tried to “muzzle” Poilievre’s criticism
Poilievre, the alleged favorite, has accused former Quebec Prime Minister Jean Charest of being liberal and Brown of lying. The Brown campaign has received personal attacks of its own, while Charest has repeatedly mocked the adoption of Poilievre’s cryptocurrency and pledged to fire the head of Canada’s central bank.
The last Conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, was ousted by deep divisions within the Conservative and Caucus movement. The next Conservative leader will have to find a way to heal these fractures, and all the new ones that have emerged along this leadership inclination.
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1:37 CPC Leadership Race: Poilievre faces tougher competition than expected CPC Leadership Race: Poilievre faces tougher competition than expected – March 26, 2022
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