Patrick Brown announced he is running again for mayor of Brampton on Monday morning.
The city’s incumbent mayor announced the bid just weeks after being kicked out of the federal Conservative leadership race.
Brown is seeking his second term as mayor after being elected for his first in 2018. His re-election bid comes as Brampton City Council is divided over his leadership.
“I just wanted to let everyone know that after talking with my family, we’ve decided to run again for mayor of Brampton,” Brown said at the press conference.
“It has been the greatest privilege to serve the city for the past four years and I look forward to the next four years.”
He joins Jermaine Chambers, Vidya Sagar Gautam and Cody Vatcher in the mayoral race.
Brown cited funding for a new hospital, medical school, transit facility and electrified transit fleet among other economic development projects as things accomplished during his tenure.
Brown also froze property taxes for four consecutive years in Brampton, a move that was popular with many voters.
“We’ve done a lot of great work at City Hall,” he said.
On the social front, Brown noted that he continues to oppose Quebec’s Bill 21, citing his support for religious freedoms.
Earlier this month, Brown was disqualified from the federal Conservative Party leadership race over allegations related to an apparent violation of funding rules in the Canada Elections Act.
The Conservative leadership election’s organizing committee has been tight-lipped about the nature of the allegations, although Brown and his campaign have denied wrongdoing. They are currently appealing the decision. A woman who identified herself as a whistleblower in the campaign says she personally discussed with Brown the arrangement for her to be paid by a private company and that he approved.
Brown again said there was “no wrongdoing” in his federal campaign, but said he was now focusing on Brampton.
“I will no longer be involved in the leadership campaign, my focus will be building a great team here in Brampton,” he said.
In response to accusations that Brampton was his second choice, he said “I could have served Brampton nationally,” but said he would still speak out in defense of the fast-growing city.
“I will be strong and I will be heard to make sure that the residents of this city are never deprived,” he said.
In the Conservative leadership race, Brown urged voters to support candidates who share the same inclusive values as the people of Brampton.
“I believe they’ve been on the wrong side of history when it comes to marriage equality, Islamophobia and Bill 21,” he said of the federal Conservative leadership.
“If we take an extreme approach, it will not be in Canada’s best interest.”
Brown is currently fighting a group of 5 councillors
Shortly after he was disqualified from the CPC leadership race, a group of five Brampton councilors wrote a statement saying “Brampton democracy is under siege because of Patrick Brown.”
In the letter, they cited financial and contractual violations during his mayoralty. They also voted to investigate contracts related to a full university for Brampton.
A report by the city’s interim chief administrative officer in May found that $629,000 went to four vendors involved in the project, but officials were unable to find the final product for five of the “supplies” identified in the spending.
Five advisers wrote that most of the money went to a firm that employed a close associate of Brown.
Brown responded that it was an attempt by councilors to divert attention from their opposed proposal to fill a vacancy. The group of five councilors voted to appoint Elaine Moore, a former city and regional councillor, to replace former councilor Charmaine Williams after she was elected in Queen’s Park in the last provincial election.
An Ontario judge overturned that appointment shortly thereafter.
Brown, speaking to reporters afterward, welcomed the judge’s finding. He claimed Moore’s appointment was an attempt to “seize control” of the city council and called it “exciting, wrong and illegal.”
But councilors who supported Moore’s appointment hoped she would help “expose” issues related to Brown at Brampton City Hall, as she has been critical of his tenure as mayor.
Brown briefly mentioned conflict with other councilors in his speech.
“The court ruled that no councilor is above the law and the councilors who objected to my stay as mayor were deemed by the court to have broken the law,” he said.
“We can never have councilors who think they are above the law.
Brown, a former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party, has been mayor of Brampton since 2018. He resigned from the PC leadership after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced dating back to his time as a federal MP. Brown has denied any wrongdoing regarding these allegations.
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