Mayor-Elect Patrick Brown is slated to release a tell-all book later this week which traces his political career in the midst of the sexual assault allegations that led to his resignation of the leader of the Ontario PCs.
The book, titled Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown, isn’t out yet, but it’s already causing a stir.
In the book, Brown takes aim at the people he claims orchestrated a coordinated effort to push him out as leader of the PCs.
Brown was pushed out as leader, and eventually the party, after CTV News reported allegations of a sex scandal involving two women. He says in the book he wasn’t the only person who had allegations levelled against him.
Brown claims Vic Fedeli, current Minister of Finance and former interim leader of the Ontario PCs, was also accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a staffer who chose not to pursue the claim.
Fedeli released a statement Wednesday calling the accusations from Brown “categorically false and without any merit.” Fedeli also says he’s retained legal counsel and is “prepared to take whatever action is necessary to hold any person making these false allegations accountable”.
In Takedown Brown also puts MPP Lisa McLeod in the crosshairs. Of McLeod, who is the Children, Community, and Social Services Minister, he says members of the caucus “hated her” and insinuates that she was faking mental illnesses.
Fedeli and McLeod aren’t the only two caught in the crosshairs. Brown calls out some of the key advisors on his team, Alykhan Velshi, Dan Robertson, Andrew Boddington, and Nick Bergamini, referring to them as his “team of backstabbers.”
With regard to the disastrous news conference at Queen’s Park just minutes prior to the allegations being broadcast, Brown writes, “Not one of these guys was with me, as promised. I was alone.”
Unsurprisingly, Doug Ford has waded into the fray to offer comment. Brown’s book not only levels accusations against some of his closest allies, but directly at him too.
I would rather have the endorsement of Kathleen Wynne than Patrick Brown. The lies in this book are disgusting. To suggest that one of our Ministers would fake a mental illness is dangerous and cruel. https://t.co/Iy3kXwX9J6
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) November 14, 2018
In the book Brown also claims he was courted by Caroline Mulroney, Doug Ford, and Christine Elliot, all vying for him to back them in the PC leadership race with promises of prominent positions in their governments should they win.
Brown also says of Ford “I often wonder whether or not those around Ford realize that most people didn’t vote for him or the PC party; they voted against Wynne. We could have run anyone, and it would not have mattered.”
In the book, Brown lays the bulk of the blame for botched PC candidate nominations — some of which are still being investigated by police — on his team. On the topic, he says, “I finally lost it and held a conference call: ‘For f**ksake! This is becoming a s***show! I trusted you guys to run these nominations.'”
Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown will be available at Indigo, Amazon and other bookstores on Friday, November 16.
