Political views
Brown characterizes himself as a 'pragmatic conservative' and has noted his limited support from labour unions.[citation needed]
During his Ontario PC Party leadership campaign, Brown was noted for his social conservatism,[2][3] and his criticism of Ontario's sex education in schools.[4] However, since his victory he has been successful in pushing the Ontario PC Party towards the "political centre." [5] Patrick Brown would go on to become the first Ontario PC Leader to march in the Toronto Pride Parade.[6] At his first Ontario PC Convention as Leader, Brown boldly affirmed his belief in anthropogenic climate change and announced his support for a revenue-neutral price on carbon.[7]
His new progressivism, stands in contrast to his voting record from a decade ago. In December 2006, as an MP, Brown voted to repeal same-sex marriage in Canada.[2][8] Brown also voted against several bills between 2011 and 2013, which were aimed at amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender expression and identity, and the Criminal Code, to prevent discrimination.[9] On September 26, 2012, Brown voted in favour of Stephen Woodworth's private member's bill to create a special committee to examine the legal definition of when a fetus becomes a human being,[10] which many argued would reopen the abortion debate in Canada. Brown did so, even though then Prime Minister Stephen Harper voted against the bill and said that Canadians did not want to reopen the abortion debate.[11][12] Since becoming Ontario's Progressive Conservative party leader, Brown has stated that it's not a provincial issue, and doesn't intend to revisit it in the Ontario Legislature.[13]
Patrick Brown's first Private Member's Bill in the Ontario Legislature, Bill 151 the Estate Administration Tax Abolition Act, was an attempt to eliminate the death tax.[14] His bill was voted down at Second Reading by the Liberal Government's majority.
His critics have called him 'policy-lite' since he made no policy statements during the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign.[15] Since winning the leadership race, he has focused his plan on four main issues which he suggests will lead to a more "prosperous province"; less red tape, improved transportation corridors, affordable energy, and addressing Ontario's growing skills gap.[16]
Municipal politics
Brown was elected to the Barrie City Council in 2000 at age 22 while still a student, becoming the youngest councillor ever elected to the Barrie City Council. He defeated the incumbent councillor. He was re-elected in 2003 with 72 percent of the vote.
Brown was seen as a very active member of council, serving on various Committees, including the Budget Committee. Brown's primary focus while on council was health care, despite it being a provincial responsibility. In response to a shortage of doctors, Brown founded the Physician Recruitment Task Force with the Royal Victoria Hospital to help attract more doctors to Barrie.[17]
Federal politics
In the 2004 federal election, Brown ran as the Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Barrie. He lost to incumbent Aileen Carroll by 1,295 votes.[18] Brown ran again in 2006 this time defeating Carroll by 1,523 votes.[19] He was re-elected in the 2008 election by 15,295 votes over Liberal candidate Rick Jones.[20]
In November 2010, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed concern about how Patrick Brown used his Canadian House of Commons account. He sent flyers to his riding which included a letter of support and a flyer from Barrie City Councillor Michael Prowse. Brown used his House of Commons account to pay for the mailing because Michael Prowse could not afford to send the flyer out himself.[21]
In the 2011 election, Brown was elected to his third term in office.[22]
On September 28, 2014, he announced his intention to run in the 2015 Ontario party leadership election. He registered as a leadership candidate on November 20, 2014. He said that, unlike the other candidates, he was not involved in the four consecutive losses that have kept the Ontario PCs out of power since 2003.[23] Fellow Ontario MP Rick Dykstra endorsed him.[24]
Provincial politics
See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 2015
In September 2014, Brown announced his intention to run in the contest to replace PC Party Leader, Tim Hudak. From the outset of his campaign, Brown positioned himself as an outsider, challenging the leadership of the PC Party, which had been defeated in the last four provincial elections. In the most recent election campaign, in 2014, the party election platform included a commitment to "cut 100,000 government jobs". As the only one of the original five leadership candidates who was not a member of the Ontario legislature, Brown claimed not to have been involved in the promise, which he considered "ill-advised",[23][25] despite attending the announcement in his home riding.[26] Brown's rivals attempted to use this same lack of previous involvement in provincial politics as an argument against his leadership bid.[27][28]
In March, Brown emerged as the front-runner in the leadership election, having sold over 40,000 of the 70,000 memberships in the party.[29][30][31][32] During the campaign, Brown was successful in bringing many new members to the party. The past four leadership contests had been won by those who sold the most memberships.[33]
Brown was endorsed by the Campaign Life Coalition and the Ontario Landowners Association.[34][35] During Brown's leadership bid both special interest groups actively supported him by selling Ontario PC Party memberships amongst their members.[36][37]
Brown was criticized by his rivals and in the media for not resigning his federal seat during the leadership campaign.[38] Brown was frequently absent from the House of Commons for votes during the leadership campaign and had one of the worst voting attendance records in the Conservative Party caucus and of any MP between September to December 2014.[39] A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed that members aren't expected to step down but are expected to "continue to fulfill their parliamentary responsibilities, including membership on committees and attendance at votes."[40]
The campaign started with five candidates including Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod, and Monte McNaughton. All three withdrew in early 2015 citing membership recruitment or financial reasons. On May 9, 2015, Brown was elected leader, defeating his only remaining opponent, Christine Elliott, winning with 61.8% of the membership vote.[41][42]
Brown, who resigned his seat in the House of Commons on May 13, 2015, days after winning the provincial leadership, led the Progressive Conservative party from outside the legislature during most of the summer.[43] On July 22, 2015, Garfield Dunlop agreed to step down as MPP for Simcoe North on August 1 in order to open up a seat for Brown. A provincial by-election, called for September 3, 2015, was won by Brown.[44][45][46]
Electoral record
ntario provincial by-election, September 3, 2015: Simcoe North
Resignation of Garfield Dunlop
Party Candidate Votes % ∆%
Progressive Conservative Patrick Brown 21,095 53.68 +9.74
Liberal Fred Larsen 9,281 23.62 –8.90
New Democratic Elizabeth Van Houtte 6,637 16.89 +1.34
Green Valerie Powell 1,791 4.56 –3.43
New Reform James Gault 200 0.51 –
People's Political Party Kevin Clarke 146 0.37 –
Libertarian Darren Roskam 104 0.26 –
Pauper John Turmel 47 0.12 –
Total valid votes 39,301 100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 170 0.43
Turnout 39,471 40.71
Eligible voters 96,950
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +9.32
Source(s) [show]
[hide]Canadian federal election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes % ∆% Expenditures
Conservative Patrick Brown 32,121 56.69 +4.32
New Democratic Myrna Clark 11,846 20.91 +8.90
Liberal Colin Wilson 9,111 16.08 -7.80
Green Erich Jacoby-Hawkins 3,271 5.77 -5.33
Libertarian Darren Roskam 150 0.26 -0.23 –
Marxist–Leninist Christine Nugent 82 0.14 -0.02 –
Canadian Action Jeff Sakula 77 0.14 –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 56,651 100.00 –
Total rejected ballots 174 0.31 –
Turnout 56,825 60.70 – –
Conservative hold Swing -2.29
[hide]Canadian federal election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ∆% Expenditures
Conservative Patrick Brown 27,927 52.37 +10.5 $91,512
Liberal Rick Jones 12,732 23.88 -15.3 $80,023
New Democratic Myrna Clark 6,403 12.01 -0.2 $16,038
Green Erich Jacoby-Hawkins 5,921 11.10 +4.3 $58,204
Libertarian Paolo Fabrizio 260 0.49 N/A $171
Marxist–Leninist Christine Anne Nugent 84 0.16 N/A $0
Total valid votes/Expense limit 53,327 100 $92,671
[hide]Canadian federal election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ∆% Expenditures
Conservative Patrick Brown 23,999 41.88 +1.8 $81,530
Liberal Aileen Carroll 22,476 39.18 -3.5 $69,313
New Democratic Peter Bursztyn 6,984 12.18 +1.5 $14,496
Green Erich Jacoby-Hawkins 3,874 6.76 +0.2 $19,036
[hide]Canadian federal election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Aileen Carroll 21,233 42.7
Conservative Patrick Brown 19,938 40.1
New Democratic Peter Bursztyn 5,312 10.7
Green Erich Jacoby-Hawkins 3,288 6.6
References[edit]
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^ Jump up to: a b Hébert, Chantal (May 11, 2015). "Is Patrick Brown as socially conservative as he appears". Toronto Star.
Jump up ^ "Ontario PCs failing in sex-ed debate", Toronto Star, Feb 25 2015.
Jump up ^ Fisher, Robert (2015-05-09). "Patrick Brown must reach out beyond PC Party faithful to challenge Liberals". CBC News. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
Jump up ^ Benzie, Robert. "Patrick Brown pulls Ontario Tories towards political centre". The Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
Jump up ^ Taber, Jane. "Why Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown embraced Pride". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown says he supports putting a price on carbon". CBC.ca. The Canadian Press.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown says Ontario PC 'establishment' to blame for recent losses". May 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown's Federal Voting Record".
Jump up ^ "Vote #466 on September 26th, 2012". Retrieved 3 October 2012.
Jump up ^ Payton, Laura (September 21, 2012). "'Human being' motion excuse to open abortion debate, MPs say". CBC News.
Jump up ^ Payton, Laura (September 26, 2012). "Motion to study when life begins defeated in Parliament". CBC News.
Jump up ^ Matys, Frank (April 21, 2015). "Patrick Brown: From long shot to front runner". Barrie Advance.
Jump up ^ Artuso, Antonella. "PC leader moves to kill death tax in Ontario". Toronto Sun. Toronto Sun. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
Jump up ^ Taber, Jane (May 10, 2015). "New Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown focused on uniting party". The Globe and Mail.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown - Canadian Club of Toronto". Canadian Club of Toronto. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
Jump up ^ Watt, Laurie (Feb 12, 2006). "MP Brown off to Ottawa 'to make Barrie better'". Huntsville Forester.
Jump up ^ "Election results...riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 29, 2004. p. A14.
Jump up ^ "Election results...riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. January 24, 2006. p. A16.
Jump up ^ "Ontario Results". The Toronto Star. October 15, 2008. p. U2.
Jump up ^ Raj, Althia (2010-11-14). "Call for review of MPs' mailing privileges". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
Jump up ^ Bowe, Raymond (May 3, 2011). "Brown wins third term". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
^ Jump up to: a b "Tory MP Patrick Brown joins Ontario PC leadership race". 2014-09-28. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
Jump up ^ "Rick Dykstra will not seek Ontario PC leadership bid". News Talk 610 CKTB Radio. September 12, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
Jump up ^ Morrow, Adrian (September 28, 2014). "Brown launches bid for Ontario PC leadership, promises 'fresh start'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Benzie, Robert; Ferguson, Rob; Brennan, Richard J. (May 9, 2015). "Patrick Brown wins Ontario PC leadership". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
Jump up ^ Benzie, Robert (February 11, 2015). "Sparks fly at PC Debate over Patrick Brown's lack of a seat". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ McInroy, Ian (September 28, 2014). "Brown seeking Ontario PC leadership". Barrie Examiner. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ Benzie, Robert; Ferguson, Rob (March 1, 2015). "Patrick Brown sells more than 40,000 Ontario PC memberships". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ Chase, Sean (2015-03-29). "Patrick Brown promises to reset PC party". Daily Observer. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
Jump up ^ Maloney, Ryan (April 14, 2015). "Patrick Brown Leads Christine Elliott In Ontario PC leadership race, poll suggests". The Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
Jump up ^ Matys, Frank (April 21, 2015). "Patrick Brown: From long shot to front runner". Barrie Advance. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
Jump up ^ Benzie, Robert; Ferguson, Rob (March 1, 2015). "Patrick Brown sells more than 40,000 Ontario PC memberships". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown wins Ontario PC leadership". Toronto Star. May 9, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Ontario PCs pick a pro-lifer to lead their rebirth". Toronto Star. May 9, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Ontario Progressive Conservatives to crown new leader". Innisfil Examiner. May 9, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Ontario PC Leadership Endorsement by CLC". Campaign Life Coalition. January 29, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Christine Elliott says she didn't know specifics of job cut plan". February 12, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Fekete, Jason (January 16, 2015). "Ontario PC leadership contender Patrick Brown has spotty voting attendance in Commons". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ O'Malley, Kady (January 22, 2015). "Patrick Brown does double duty as MP and Ontario PC leadership contender". CBC News. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
Jump up ^ Elliot, Josh (May 9, 2015). "Patrick Brown elected leader of Ontario PC party". CTVNews.ca. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Patrick Brown wins Ontario PC leadership race". CBC News. 2015-05-10. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
Jump up ^ "Barrie MP Patrick Brown resigns seat as he shifts to lead provincial PCs". Ottawa Citizen. May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown seeking seat in Simcoe North riding". Globe and Mail. July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Jump up ^ "PC Leader Patrick Brown projected to win in Simcoe North byelection". CBC News. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Wynne changes course, gives PC leader chance to run in early byelection". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
External links[edit]
Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History
Patrick Brown – Parliament of Canada biography
Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca