Former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown has ended his campaign to re-take the reins of the party heading into the June 7 provincial election, the party's chief electoral officer Hartley Lefton says.
Lefton said in a tweet late Monday afternoon he received a letter from Brown announcing his withdrawal from the leadership race he triggered.
Confirming: The Chief Electoral Officer, @OntarioPCParty President and I received a letter a short while ago from @brownbarrie announcing his withdrawal from the #PCPOLdr race. The next Leader of the #PCPO will be @TGranicAllen, @celliottability, @fordnation or @C_Mulroney.
— @hartleylefton
Brown resigned his leadership post late last month after two women accused him of sexual misconduct dating back to when he was a federal MP in the Barrie, Ont., area. He has denied the allegations since they were first made public in a report by CTV News.
The Simcoe North MPP shocked party insiders and political observers alike when he registered to run in the party's snap leadership race just hours before the deadline to do so expired.
While Brown has maintained that he has substantial grassroots support, his short-lived campaign was plagued by scandals that have roiled the PCs just months before they challenge Premier Kathleen Wynne.
In the few weeks between his resignation and his announcement to drop out of the race, Brown was booted from the PC caucus and became the target of a lengthy complaint — made by Conservative MPP Randy Hillier — to the province's integrity commissioner.
The complaint outlines accusations of financial impropriety and, in Hillier's words, "crooked and dirty politics" that breached the province's ethics rules.
Ontario's integrity commissioner confirmed Monday he is investigating that complaint.
from CBC | Top Stories News http://ift.tt/2GPhby5
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