By Joseph Lawrence
June 24, 2023
While Patrick Brown is enjoying his second term as Mayor of Brampton, his public accusers are now searching for new employment.
It was a full-scale takedown. Four months prior to the 2018 provincial election, CTV National News made explosive allegations against Brown. Using their popular TV and social media formats, the electorate was bombarded with the allegations, providing unrelenting pressure on the PC leader. The pressure intensified as other news agencies reported on the allegations.
It is also important to note, none of the alleged victims filed any legal claims or parliamentary complaints against Brown.
Prior to the CTV’s revelation, Patrick Brown was clearly ahead in the polls. According to Campaign Research, Patrick Brown’s PCs were comfortably leading at 50%, whereas Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were at 28%, and Andrea Horwath’s NDP was at 15%.
In response, Brown stepped down as leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party to redirect the attention away from the provincial campaign and to focus on clearing his name. The PCs then proceeded to win a clear majority at Queen’s Park capturing 76 out of 124 seats, and achieved 41% of the popular vote. If Patrick Brown was still the leader, he would have been the Premier of Ontario.
…failings of journalistic competence, but what I see as serious ethical breaches, too.”
– Andrew Lawton of Global News (describing CTV National News)
The CTV story then began to unfold. According to Andrew Lawton of Global News, “The story, published in late January by Glen McGregor and Rachel Aiello, lies in tatters after both allegations face serious credibility challenges”, Lawton continues, “The second allegation is hardly in better shape now, featuring not only failings of journalistic competence, but what I see as serious ethical breaches, too.”
Facing off against the big media giant that is a division of Bell Media, Brown worked towards clearing his name from the unproven allegations. He authored a book entitled Takedown: The Attempted Political Association of Patrick Brown and writes, “With 170 days to go before the election even the media was touting that I would be the next Premier of Ontario. Instead, on January 24th, 2018, I was all but assassinated in public…This was my dream, this was my nightmare. I’m Patrick Brown, and this is my story.”
Patrick Brown would eventually launch a lawsuit in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, claiming he was defamed by CTV National News and specifically named Wendy Freeman, Lisa LaFlamme, Glen McGregor, and Rachel Aiello as defendants, and indirectly named producer Rosa Hwang.
…CTV has finally had to do a mea culpa (my mistake) for a consequential and egregious mistake
– Steve Paikin of TVO Today
Prior to the trial, both Brown and CTV reached a settlement. Steve Paikin of TVO Today writes, “…CTV has finally had to do a mea culpa (my mistake) for a consequential and egregious mistake”, he continues, “Frankly, its mistakes likely cost Brown the chance to be Premier of Ontario…”.
The agreed-upon statement that announced the settlement contained the following, “Key details provided to CTV for the story were factually incorrect and required correction. CTV National News regrets including those details in the story and any harm this may have caused to Mr. Brown.”
This would be the first time in Canadian history that a national news network has had to apologize for getting their story wrong.
Other than the statement, no other details of the settlement between Brown and CTV has publicly emerged. The Bramptonist has not been able to confirm the rampant rumours that those involved at CTV would be fired. Mayor Brown has not responded to requests for comment on the terms of the settlement. However, sources familiar with the settlement confirmed that Brown’s legal counsel Howard Winkler brutalized Lisa Laflemme, Rose Hwang and Glen McGregor in the examinations.
Within a year of CTV’s statement on the Brown lawsuit, popular CTV anchor Lisa Laflamme was removed from the media conglomerate, with her bio eliminated from CTV and Bell’s website. Laflamme’s departure caused much speculation as to why she was removed from the coveted anchor position. According to Brian Lilly of the Toronto Sun, he opined, “In my view, this happened for a number of reasons, none of them cut and dry with an easy narrative, but there’s one angle most are overlooking – Patrick Brown. The impact of Brown’s lawsuit against CTV likely shouldn’t be overlooked when piecing the puzzle together.”
Others involved in Brown’s allegations then followed Laflemme.
This month, CTV announced the departure of both Glen McGregor as Senior Political Correspondent and Rosa Hwang as CTV’s National News Executive Producer.
The cleaning house is similar to Fox News when they terminated key people after dreadful discoveries in their lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. The Washington Post story headline reads, “Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News after Dominion lawsuit disclosures”.
Patrick Brown has been fully vindicated. First, CTV confirmed their well-publicized allegations contained factually incorrect details. Then, his public accusers have now lost their jobs at CTV.
Most importantly, the electorate never abandoned Brown, as he achieved an overwhelming majority of the popular vote within his second campaign as Mayor of Brampton.
