Ontario's Progressive Conservatives - Let's Get Ready To RUMBLE!!!

Okay Ontario Conservative party members and watchers, the moment you've been waiting for is almost here.  Who will come out on top in this winner take all cage match and go on to face against Kathleen Wynne?  

• The leader of the Liberal NWO. 
• Ontario's Queen of Hydro, 
• The Sultan of Corruption, 
• The Lesbian who's a political Champion? 

Here are your contenders.

She's a former MPP and the winner of three local elections in her riding.  A former deputy party leader and most recently an appointee to the position of Patient Ombudsman by the current Wynne government.  Ladies and gentleman give it up for.....THE INSIDER!!!

Now entering the ring in the black trunks.  He's a former Toronto City Councillor and a reputed high school drug dealer.  When he's not in the political ring he keeps himself busy looking over the business his Daddy left him.  He's a big time CONSERVATIVE but a lightweight progressive who will never march in a Gay Pride anything.  Let's give a big Ontario cheer, he's DOUG THE THUG from FORD NATIOOOOOOOOOON!!!

Simmer down, simmer down.  Going into my soft falsetto voice now. 

She's the daughter of a former Prime Minister who's never been in the political ring before.  But don't be fooled folks she's no lightweight, she's raised more money than any other candidate, ringing in over $700,000 in a matter of weeks.  She's a Canadian and an American who is the only contender who is nominated in her riding, by acclimation no less....some say Patrick Brown had a hand in that but others say no.  She's on a leave of absence from her regular job because she thought it would be fun to give politics a spin.  Please keep it dignified, soft clapping only for.....THE PRINCESS!!!

And finally the rank outsider, someone so obscure she doesn't even have a Wiki page.  But don't let that fool you, she trains by ripping wind turbines out of the ground with just one hand.  She will single handily send Justin Trudeau running like a frightened little girl if he dares impose a carbon tax.  And she'll do all this while protecting Ontario students from learning anything about sex in the classroom.  Our final combatant entering the ring is, THE CHRISTIAN CRUSADER!!!

The referee for the evening will be interim leader Vic "Feel Her Up" Fedeli. Ladies I suggest you keep a close eye on his hands.  

Ahhh, that was fun.  

But now on to the serious job of trying to predict who will win this little political free for all.  Its not going to happen on a single ballot, of that I'm certain.  After that first ballot though I expect the order to be Ford with a sizable lead, followed by Elliott, Mulroney and Allen in that order.  #FordNation did yeoman's work in signing people up to memberships, he's the only candidate who had a large team ready to spring into action.

That's my prediction for the 1st ballot, barring CTV all of a sudden coming out with another poorly researched story.  

With Patrick Brown's ouster the big question is where will most of his support go, he was reportedly at about 28% according to polls.  And I think it will break down in Ford's favour....a few votes here and there for Elliot, Allen and Mulroney but nothing significant.  Patrick's supporters, I'd say the majority of them, believe that party insiders had a big hand in the way he was taken out, and I see that hurting Elliott and not Ford.

If I had to guess percentages I'd say 50% of Patrick's support will go to Ford, 25% to Elliott and 20% to Allen.  Given that Caroline Mulroney's younger brother works for CTV, that hurts her ability to attract any significant support among Brown's base in my opinion.

#FordNation workers bringing in members, and disaffected supporters of Patrick Brown will have Doug wearing the PC championship belt when its all over.

Patrick made huge inroads with Ontario's diverse Indian communities.  My gut tells me that by and large they'll be more comfortable with Elliott's politics, but I'm not so naive as to think that they all will be comfortable voting for a woman.  And then to use Stephen Harper's old dog whistle, I think "older stock" Canadians will side mostly with Ford.  

I'm predicting that Ford will have a significant lead after the first round, somewhere over 40%, and that all it will take is the support of Granic Allen's voters to put him over the top, that's where I see her votes moving for their 2nd choice.  Mulroney's undoubtedly will swing heavy to Ms. Elliott but I don't think it will be enough.  

My final ballot prediction, Ford 55% to Elliott 45%.

What happens in June?  

I'm sure the Wynne Liberal war room is planning strategy for all possible outcomes, but I'm guessing the prospect of Ford leading the PCs is as close to a dream come true as they can hope for.  Granic Allen would be their first choice I'm sure, but most Ontarians don't even attend church regularly and her chances of changing the name of the gas tax to a carbon tax, there's no hope.   I'm sure even some of her die hard supporters know it....She has no more chance than that kid who promised 3 hour lunches when he ran for class president.

Its gonna be fun to watch.

Conservatives need to rally around something simple - Tax cuts

Its Sunday, and I am in a really good mood.  I'm not able to make it to Church every week due to my work schedule, but today was not one of those days.  I'm able to attend about two out of every three Sundays.  Today the hymns were upbeat, the fellowship wonderful and the sermon was fantastic.  

The readings were from Genesis and Matthew, about the creation story and John The Baptist.  About God's love for His creation and His love for us, His creation.  

We had a guest Pastor today, one who retired from leading our Church a number of years back, long before I joined the congregation.  His sermon was fantastic, about how we're constantly being told "you're not good enough".  It starts when we're kids, our parents get mad and say: "Why can't you be good".  The implication is obvious, a child hearing that they're not good, that means they must be bad.  And it doesn't stop when we're kids, it keeps going throughout life, people continually hear that they're not worthy.  

That's the wonderful message of Jesus Christ, that despite what others say...even our parents, deep down in my soul I know that I am worthy, that I am part of a chosen people.  Its a nice message to hear on a Sunday, or any day for that matter.  I asked the Pastor after the service if the sermon was new, or if he'd gone back into the archives for a "best of".  "That one was from 2003 brother", was his answer, "with a little tweaking".

Why am I writing about my Christian faith?  I mean, isn't this a blog about politics?  Its often said that these are the two topics to never discuss, but if I'm going to write about one, I might as well include the other.  

So now that I've covered religion, I'll move onto politics and the role religion often has.

When musing about Conservative politics, taking matters of faith into consideration is not without a fair degree of importance.  A lot of party members are also members of a faith community, and not just the Christian faith.  But my knowledge of Islam, Sikhism, Judaism and other religions isn't sufficient enough to express views on them intelligently so I'll stick to the faith I was brought up in.

Those who've read my previous postings already know that I'm supporting Brown, and I imagine some might be surprised that I'm a Christian.  It shouldn't be surprising to those who already know how divided the Christian Church is among all the different denominations.  

There is a common thread however.  All the Churches I've been to preach from the Holy Bible and acknowledge Jesus as Lord.  That doesn't mean they're all the same however, just as their are varying sects within Judaism and Islam, Christians have differences too. 

What Does Polling Say?

Ontario Conservatives have differences too, tons of them as this race shows.  We have 5 candidates and if the polling that just came out is even remotely accurate, not one single leadership hopeful will have even 30% after the first round of voting.

Its going to come down to second and even third choices.  According to polling numbers being published from Mainstreet Research Brown and Elliott are in a statistical tie (with Elliott ahead by less than a single percentage point) with just over 28% each and Doug Ford third with a bit more than 22%.  

Mulroney and Allen come 4th and 5th with 14 and 6% respectively, that means they'd be the first to drop off.  I consider Caroline Mulroney's supporters to be the most forgiving of Christine Elliott taking a job from Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne.  Given that Brian Mulroney spoke glowingly of Justin Trudeau even before he became the Liberal leader, and is now working for the Liberal government, it makes sense.  

Allen's support I see moving mostly to Ford, which means this is going to be a horse race....

At the end of it all there will be only one leader, and if polling reflects the actual results it will mean that over 70% did not have that person as their first choice.  Patrick Brown is in the hunt, but I think it could very well end up being any one of the three.  

I am hoping that the prospect of an income tax cut in the party's platform will convince enough party members to have Brown, if not first....at least second or third.  Otherwise we'll be seeing Ottawa impose a carbon tax on the province and we'll have to settle for whatever they decide to send back our way.  Railing against the Carbon Tax is good politics, like the candidate for Student Council who promises three hour lunches, its good for posturing.  

I've worked out that the income tax cut proposed in the Party approved Patrick Brown platform, that it would mean over $100 in tax savings for me personally each month.  To bring religion back into this, I guess that makes me guilty of avarice, oh well.  Those unhappy with the new Sex-Ed curriculum could use the money to help pay for the tuition at a private Christian school.    

It still frustrates me that this leadership race is even taking place, it never should have happened except for some yellow journalism by CTV.  For more on this watch Deb Davison's look into the real motivation behind the trumped up allegations:

Happy voting everyone.  Christians should know all about false allegations and the way the mob is typically whipped into a frenzy by groups like the Pharisees who've now moved into the media and decide what and how it is reported. 

Caroline Mulroney - Burning down the PC house?

Caroline Mulroney is running for the leadership of Onatrio's Progressive Conservative Party, following in her father's political footsteps.  

Conservatives interested in the long term viability of the Ontario PC Party may want to consider her Dad's history, the similarities are striking.  For younger readers Brian Mulroney was the last Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Canada ever had.  

After resigning Brian Mulroney handed the keys over to Kim Campbell and the Federal PCs were destroyed, reduced to just two seats.  Caucus meetings were held in an Austin Mini.  Retired Joe Clark stepped back in and did an incredible job of rebuilding the ruined party, but it wasn't enough and the PCs had little choice but to merge with the Canadian Alliance.  

Brian Mulroney had never held elected office before working the backrooms to wrest the leadership away from incubmant Joe Clark.  Dirty political games are nothing new, the elder Mulroney reportedly had a mole in Clark's camp, a man by the name of Pageau.  

Joe Clark would have been a hard target to smear even if the #MeToo movement existed back then for explotation.  But Clark's leadership was successfully underminded regardless and in a leadership review Mr. Clark received only 66% of party support.  With one third of the party not backing him Clark did the honorable thing, he called for a leadership race and sought to reclaim the top job.  

Sound similar?

Joe probably thought Brian would back his bid to reclaim the leadership, the elder Mulroney had endorsed him after all.  In politics though the axiom of keeping your friends close and enemies closer is wise advice.  Friends can easily turn into adversaries, and that's exactly what happened.  Brian Mulroney courted support from Quebec nationalists like Lucien Bouchard and was able to win the leadership race.  

The parallels don't end there.  The federal Liberals had been in power for 16 years, and were very unpopular.  Brian Mulroney seized power at the perfect time, his daughter Caroline is probably thinking that its almost a carbon copy scenario with Wynne's current Liberal government, in power for 15 years.  All that was needed was to unseat the incumbant leader and the keys to the Premier's office would be there for the taking.

Did Caroline Mulroney have a Pageau type working in Patrick Brown's camp?  Could be.  At least three of his top advisors are now on her team, some announcing their support for the political interloper before she'd even declared her intention to run.  Maybe they knew it was already in the cards.

Caroline Mulroney is now leading the charge in calling for former leader Patrick Brown to exit the race.  To my way of thinking that would be nothing short of a travesty, if Brown dropped out and Mulroney remained.  After the unbelievably shitty job, (sorry for the profanity but I can't think of a better description) done by her brother's media employer CTV in bringing about Patrick Brown's ouster, she should be the first to go.  Going to air with such a poorly researched story reeks of what's commonly referred to as yellow journalism.  

I have little doubt that Ms. Mulroney would vehemently deny any such allegations, much like Patrick Brown has denied the smears he has endured.  If Mulroney were to do what I consdier the honourable thing and back out of the race, then I would join in asking for him to step aside while a thorough investigation was being conducted.  If both would back out they could still run in their respective ridings...Caroline might even win her seat, Patrick is a lead pipe cinch to win his in my opinion.

That's enough for now.  Click here for my next posting:

Is Caroline Mulroney the Hillary Clinton of Ontario politics?

Am I still standing with Patrick Brown? Read and find out...

I just got off the phone with my brother, a long time member of Ontario's PC party.  He wanted to know if, in light of recent revelations, I still supported Patrick Brown's bid to reclaim the leadership of the party.  

I wrote a blog post on February 16th that's been viewed over 1,000 times, which for this pathetic little blog is about as close as it comes to going viral.

I stand with Patrick Brown - Here's why I'll be voting for him...

But a lot has happened since then.  Hop into my time machine and let's go back a few weeks, to Jan 24th 2018...the day that Ontario politics was turned on its ear.  If you have a short attention span stop reading right now, this is going to be a long one.

I'm a political junkie and the news on that day was riveting.  Up to that point I had pretty much decided that I would be voting PC in the upcoming election.  I hadn't yet put my antenna all the way up to maximum height, and there was always the possibility that something could happen to change my mind though.  

Does that sound familiar Ontario Conservative poll watchers?

Prior to CTV's reporting of Patrick Brown luridly plying a high school girl with drinks and then having a friend drive her to his house wherein he lured her up to his second floor bedroom, closed the door and demanded oral sex...and another story involving a tale of kissing and climbing on top of a very drunk constituency worker in that same bedroom on a different occasion....

Prior to this news I didn't know that much about the man.

I had been living in Quebec from 2011 until April of 2015, moving back just before Mr. Brown won the leadership in 2015.  I'm Ontario born, spent some time growing up in the United Stares, but from 1978 until 2011 my address always had the province Ontario in it, Toronto, Durham Region, North Bay, Northumberland...I get around.  

And now that I'm back its very unlikely I will ever leave.  

All I really knew about Patrick Brown before CTV's bombshell report was that he had outmanoeuvred Christine Elliott by courting social conservatives in the 2015 leadership race.  Honestly I didn't like that, I myself am not a social conservative.  I consider myself to be socially progressive and fiscally conservative.  But then I heard that Patrick Brown marched in Toronto's Gay Pride Parade, that he endorsed the Wynne Liberal's update to the sex ed curriculum.  

Okay, I get it.  He courted the religious right and outflanked Ms. Elliott.....that's politics.  

At least now he was a viable Premier in my eyes, and with the way Kathleen Wynne's Liberals had handled everything from Orange and E-Health, the Hydro file and the AG's proclamation about the bogus balanced budget, I was pretty much a lock to vote PC in the coming provincial election in June.  

Jumping forward a bit I started looking into the allegations....I quickly learned the identity of the constituency worker and of her relationship to CTV reporter Rachel Aiello who worked on the story.  I never studied journalism, but I don't think you need a BA in media studies to know that this doesn't pass the smell test.  I also read some of the accuser's bio, her thoughts about using feminism as a political tool, or weapon, I forget the exact verbiage.  More smell.

Now I'm hooked and falling deeper and deeper into the vortex of social media gossip and on-line digging.  I discover that the first accuser, the one who said she was in high school when Patrick Brown met her in a bar, word is out that she too is connected to a CTV reporter, a former housemate.  The stench is getting worse and worse.

Social media maven and indy "journalist" Deb Davidson put up a Youtube video claiming that reporters in Barrie were willing to pay anyone willing to come forward with credible allegations against Brown.  Hmmmm, I don't know who this Deb Davidson is or whether her video is credible, but its out there and is part of the narrative.  A very murky and dark narrative.

Political hit job?  

Seems to me that there is more than reasonable grounds for that suspicion.  Especially with word that Caroline Mulroney is looking to replace Brown.  Her brother is a CTV media star after all.

More fast forwarding, Brown has been forced out....made to resign, in so much haste it seems the party released the news of his removal before he'd even read or signed a letter of resignation.  Oh well, sucks to be Patrick Brown I guess.  What's the bigger picture now?  The PCs don't have a leader and there's an election in June.  Will they appoint one?  Will there be a leadership race?  

That's quickly settled and the candidates start declaring. 

• Christine Elliott is back for another kick at the can. 
• The aforementioned Caroline Mulroney makes it official.  
• Dougie is mobilizing #FordNation for his run at the job.

And finally some individual whose name I still can't commit to memory who I simply call the anal sex lady.  And thanks to my posts referring to this individual as such on Twitter, #analsexlady is now a hashtag that's getting a little play.

I still want the PCs to win at this point, but who do I want them putting up as the leader?  

Brother man starts calling and tells me I can join the party and have a say, it only costs $10.  Brian at church says the same thing, even invites me to a meet and greet for the local PC candidate in my riding.  At that gathering I fill out the form and jot down my credit card number, I'm in.  I haven't yet been mailed a card or anything from the party, but I just checked my credit card account and the $10 has been charged, on February 13th.  

I'm with Elliott all the way at this point.  Ford?  I know the man has a strong base of Trump minded followers, but that's not for me.  Caroline Mulroney?  No way, no experience at all and I don't like the fact that it was her brother's employer whose news division engaged in what looks to me like some serious yellow journalism to oust Brown, I'll pass.

Fast forward again, to the next bombshell....Ontario politics is becoming a spectacular fireworks display.  Patrick Brown in back???  WTF!!!  

I'm already sold on the whole thing being a a politically motivated hit job.  The first accuser's story was shot so full of holes that other media organizations are putting out headlines like this: 

• CTV's Patrick Brown story lies in tatters - Global
• New information raises questions about allegations against Patrick Brown - CBC
• Key accusation against Brown false, CTV now admits - Toronto Sun

Un-freaking real, holy jumping cheese curds.  

CTV didn't bother to check its facts obviously.  The accuser who said she was in high school now says she got her dates wrong.  Okay...that can happen.  It seems she also got the part about Patrick Brown's friend driving her to his house wrong, that individual asserted categorically to other media outlets that it never happened.  

But the rest, that stands CTV claims, and they're sticking to their original story, well....not the parts they got wrong, just the part about demanding oral sex.  Uhm...yeah, okay.

And the second accuser, its now being reported that others present at Mr. Brown's house after the Hockey Night in Barrie event, they assert that the former constituency worker was following Patrick around all night, googly eyed like a puppy dog and that she followed him after he'd gone upstairs to his bedroom.  

What happened once the door was closed?  The only thing we know for sure is that they exchanged a kiss and then she was driven home.  The implication that she was given a raise to silence her has also been called into question with conflicting stories now saying this individual demanded a raise when new constituency workers were hired and were being paid the same as Ms. X. 

On top of that the Barrie politician subjected himself to two polygraph tests and passed both. According to an exclusive news story the expert who conducted the first test, an individual with some 40 odd years experience and recently employed by CBC's the 5th Estate, Patrick Brown not only met the standards for determining truthfulness, he exceeded them on all measurements.

Armed with this information he launched his bid to reclaim the leadership, claiming that he'd cleared his name.  Has his name been cleared?  For me it has.  I do not know what more the man could possibly do, even if he had years and years to do it.  

Now we're back to the present day.  

Not only has Patrick Brown launched his bid to reclaim the leadership, but he has been cleared to do so by the PC committee charged with green lighting candidates.  He will be running as a PC candidate in a newly constituted Barrie riding, and he will be vying to lead the party in its fight to unseat Wynne's Liberal government.

But the story doesn't end there, this story has no end.  There are more allegations coming out, it seems like almost every hour.

The Globe & Mail reported that Patrick Brown discussed a $375,000 deal with a future PC candidate in 2016, one Jass Johal who later went on to be acclaimed in a suburban Toronto riding.  In fact they had a signed affidavit detailing the proposed transaction.  Patrick Brown then provided the G&M a subsequent affidavit that states the contemplated transaction never took place, it was also shared on social media.

Patrick Brown has said that his former staff stole some of his personal files from his office, including financial documents.  The Globe story detailed how the exact $375K was later deposited into Mr. Brown's account, and the implication is obvious, that it was a shady deal.  Not so says Patrick Brown, the $375K was the amount needed, along with mortgage financing, to purchase a home up on lake Simcoe.  

Verdict?  For me this is small beer, very small beer.  Patrick Brown and Mr Johal are Conservatives, not Marxists.  

So they considered entering a financial arrangement, Patrick needed $375K for the down payment on the purchase of a property, and he and Mr. Johal laid out the framework of a proposed transaction involving the exchange of money for aeroplan miles and an ownership stake in a Barrie sports bar.  Then, for whatever reason, either one or both of them decided not to proceed. 

Maybe they figured the optics were bad and decided against going forward.  Maybe Mr. Brown or Mr. Johal figured they weren't getting fair value, that $375K was either too much or too little.  I really don't care.  Maybe Caroline Mulroney is upset that Patrick paid less for his Simcoe Lake property than she paid for hers?  Where did Patrick get the $375K?  The globe reports Patrick as saying it came from family.  

Okay let's move on.  Inflated party membership numbers.  At least everyone agrees that after losing the 2011 election the number of PC party members was down around 12,000.  Recently Mr. Brown boasted about how the party membership was at 200,000.  That's quite the achievement, rah rah zis boom bah.  

But then some angry old guys in the party, including those he'd beaten out for the leadership last time, they started saying that Mr. Brown was inflating the numbers, that it was more like 130,000 or 165,000....whatever it was the number wasn't 200,000 as Brown claimed.  

Will these guys please just shut the #### up.....Party official Thomas Degroot sent out an email that's been shared all over social media confirming that Brown got the number wrong, but he went low instead of high like a good conservative, it wasn't 200,000 but over 234,000......

Then there's Brown's girlfriend, who is I believe 23 years of age.  Apparently she really likes Patrick Brown and speaks highly of his character and demeanour.  Do I care that Brown is 39 and thus much older?  No, I don't...no more than I cared about former Prime Minister PE Trudeau having been involved with an 18 year old when he was in his 40s and then later marrying.  Did that make PET unfit for office?  Trash Pierre's politics all you like, that's certainly fair game....but who cares who he took to bed so long as we're talking about consenting adults.

But with all this baggage, can Patrick Brown win a June election against Wynne's Liberals?  

In my opinion....yes, easily.  I think the battle to win the leadership is going to be harder actually, harder but doable.  Ontarians are itching to toss the Liberals into the opposition benches, and I think Patrick Brown is the one person most capable of doing it.

Assuming he's the leader in June, are there some voters who will shun the PCs because of all the stories that have been floated in the media?  No doubt, some yes.  

But for every one voter who is turned off I would wager there's at least one other who will mark an X next to a PC candidate.  People who wouldn't have otherwise voted PC because of the way Patrick Brown has fought back against unbelievable odds.

I was very pleased, and frankly very surprised, that Patrick Brown was allowed to stand for the leadership race, it was the right choice.  PC Party members are big girls and big boys, we can make up our own minds.  

And Patrick Brown has to be considered a very real possibility to win again.  Betting against this guy is obviously not a smart thing to do.  As far as I'm aware he's never lost a political fight, from city councillor to MP to MPP and the Ontario PC Party leadership.  And he's demonstrated a remarkable ability to remove knives from his back.

But maybe PC party members will want to risk going into an election without a platform, to be lead by a rookie leader instead of the guy who grew the membership from just 12,000 to its current levels. Maybe they don't want a man who has reached out to communities that make the PC party more reflective of Ontario than it has ever been before.  

Carbon tax?  Get over it.  Its coming whether we like it or not.  If Ontario doesn't put a price on carbon, then Trudeau's Liberals are going to do it to us.....oh but they'll return the money, don't worry....Justin wouldn't go back on his word, just like he's kept his promise on electoral reform, ooops.  

I'd rather see a Carbon Tax offset by deep and broad based cuts to my income tax rate thank you very much.  Besides, I don't like pollution, I kind of like clean lakes, streams, soil and air....I'm weird that way, maybe some prefer smog, scummy lakes and toxic soil.   

So am I still standing with Patrick Brown?  If you've read this far you already know the answer.  Yes.  

CTV News - The Donald Trump of Canadian journalism

CTV News has announced that they, "stand behind their reporting" of the Patrick Brown story and that attacks on their journalistic practices are, "groundless and wrong".

Really?  

They can stand behind their reporting all they like but they don't get to decide if criticism of their journalistic practices is without merit any more than Patrick Brown got to decide if the allegations against him were true or not.  

CTV is starting to seriously sound like U.S. president Donald Trump in trying to defend its tarnished reputation.  Donald loves to express views about himself and present them as fact, saying ridiculous things like: "Nobody understands women's issues better than me, nobody".  And he'll frequently double down on his absurd assertions by punctuating them with something stupid like: "And everybody knows it".  

Does CTV deserve the criticism that's coming their way?  Go onto social media and you'll see CTV getting lambasted for everything from ethics to simple fact checking.  I share the view that this Bell Media division has seriously damaged the reputation of MSM news outlets in Canada.  

It would help if CTV's news director would issue an apology for the shoddy job that was done on this story, but that's likely coming just after 'The Donald' announces that his wanting a big military parade was the result of a lapse in judgement.

What do consumers of news expect from responsible news outlets?  Its pretty simple, report the facts.  If someone calls in with a story about a robbery on Second Avenue and Main Street at the Piggly Wiggly, make sure the details are right.  If there isn't a store of that name at that location, do some digging.  

And don't take sides in the stories being reported, again...just present the facts.  It is up to individuals to make their own judgements.  If a reporter has a conflict of interest that could influence their reporting, then remove that individual from the story and have someone else do the job.   Or at minimum state the bias up front so that consumers are aware of the potential for bias.

And finally, present both sides.  When reporting on allegations with no third party witnesses give both accuser and accused the opportunity to present their side of the story. 

So how did CTV botch the Patrick Brown story?  Number one, they got the facts wrong.  

The individual who claimed Patrick Brown met her in a bar where she was drinking underage while still a high school student, she apparently got her dates mixed up.  I'm not faulting the woman for having a faulty memory, the alleged event took place around 10 years ago.  Its entirely possible that what she said of the misconduct is true, but that she simply wasn't 100% sure of the time frame.  

Sadly for the accuser, this seriously undermines the credibility of the allegations, and the fault lies entirely with CTV News.  Had CTV been thorough in their investigation they would discovered that Patrick Brown was not living in a 2 storey house with an upstairs bedroom when the alleged events are said to have taken place.  

Again, I am not questioning the veracity of the allegations here, but I am going to criticize CTV for not checking the facts.  Because they didn't do their job the individual making these accusations has had her credibility questioned.  This is what should have happened before the story went to air in my view:

CTV to accuser:  We looked into the details of your accusation, and it turns out Patrick Brown was not living in a two storey house at the time you say he took you to a second floor bedroom, closed the door and demanded oral sex.  At that time he was living in a one floor open concept subdivided duplex with no upstairs and no bedroom door.  Is it possible it happened at a later date, after you were no longer in high school?  

The conflict of interest involving reporter Rachel Aiello is even more damning in my view.  It is now a well known fact that Ms. Aiello and the constituency worker who claims Patrick Brown climbed on top of her and kissed her without consent, that these two individuals worked together at Ottawa's 'The Hill Times'.  In fact there are pictures now being shared all over social media that suggest the reporter and her source are in point of fact friends.  

There are two possibilities here as I see it.  It may be that Ms. Aiello never disclosed her relationship to her superiors.  If that is the case, then this goes beyond a simple mistake.  The other possibility is that Ms. Aiello did disclose the relationship with this source, and that her editors decided not to disclose it.  Either way it seriously damages the credibility of this story, and reflects very badly on the ethics of CTV News in the opinion of many who are now criticising CTV.  

Now that the relationship is well known CTV is claiming that they took measures to ensure there wasn't contact between their reporter and the anonymous source.  But its too late now, the damage is done and excuses after the fact won't take that away.  

And finally we're left with the fact that CTV did not give Patrick Brown any chance to respond to the allegations before the story hit the airwaves. Responsible journalism involves reporting, not just one point of view in these "she said, he said" situations, but both sides.  Failing to report on conflicting accounts from others present at the time of the alleged incidents seriously erodes CTV's professional reputation in the eyes of many news consumers.

What CTV News needs to do, if they care about repairing the damage to their image and brand, is to acknoweldge the mistakes they made and to commit to better reporting going forward.  Failing to do so will only lend credibility to Patrick Brown's allegations that this was a politically motivated hit job designed to remove him from his job as PC Party leader.  

With Caroline Mulroney being a candidate and the brother of a CTV media star, the optics here are so bad that any reasonable and fair minded PC Party member should immediately eliminate her from consideration in the upcoming leadership vote in my opinion. 

Why Caroline Mulroney must be removed fom the PC leadership race...

In poltics and in other arenas even the appearance of a conflict can cause serious problems.  And with the way in which Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party is undergoing a leadership race, the PCs should not even be allowing Caroline Mulroney to run for the job.   

Not now certainly, although perhaps some time in the future once the entire Patrick Brown affair has been settled, including the role of her brother's employer in bringing about the outster of the Barrie MPP.

Did the fact that Ben Mulroney is employed by the same Bell Media whose news orginization destroyed Patrick Brown's career and reputation have any influence on how or why the story was reported?  I'm not the only one asking the question, here's a pic that's making the rounds in social media.  

The inference in the above photo is clear.  It suggests that CTV fabricated a story to ensure that Patrick Brown would be removed as leader.  I don't know if that's true or not, but given the emerging facts, CTV's journalistic ethics are certainly being questioned by many people.  

What do we know?  

We know that CTV 's Rachel Aiello had a relationship with the anonymous constituency worker who accused Brown of climbing on top of her and kissing her.  We now also know that Patrick Brown is claming that the other accuser was a housemate of a CTV reporter.  These are matters that need to be investigated.

Mr. Brown also claims that the account given by the woman who says he took her to a second storey bedroom, closed the door and demanded oral sex, is factually impossible.  He asserts in interviews with the National Post and Post Media that he lived in a one storey apartment flat in a subdivided duplex that was open concept with no bedroom door to close at the time of the alleged misconduct.  These facts are reportedly corraborated by a real estate agent.

Obviously there needs to be a thorough investigation.  At minimum it appears that the rush to judgement of the former PC Leader may have been premature.  There are even calls by some to have Brown reinstated as leader of the party, however the only way I could see that happening is in an alternative universe, even if he never in fact formally resigned his position.

One interesting tidbit is that no other women have come foward to accuse Brown of misconduct.  With Weinstein, Spacey, Laurer, Hehr etc....the initial reports opened the floodgates and led others to come forward.  Steve Paikin has stood accused of sexual misconduct, but his defenders cite the fact that no other women have come forward as reason for giving him a presumption of innocence.  Why is Patrick Brown not being afforded the same presumption?

But just as Brown can no longer lead the Progressive Conservatives, Caroline Mulroney should no longer be able to run for the party's top job until a thorough investigation of CTV's journalistic ethics is conducted.  Ben Mulroney's status as a media star of the same orginization whose news division made his sister's run at the leadership possible, it leaves a very bad smell.

And I write this as an interested party given that I am now, and for the first time in my life, a member of Ontario's Progressive Conservative party.  I parted with the $10 membership fee in order to cast my vote for Christine Elliot.  I'm not 100% certain I will vote PC in the coming provincial election, but with Elliot at the helm of the party I will be leaning decidedly in that direction.  If its Doug Ford or Christine Mulroney they have no chance of getting my X beside a PC candidate's name.

Would Caroline Mulroney make an effective leader and/or Premier?  Its possible, so might have Patrick Brown, we'll never know.  Ontario Conservatives need to clean up this mess before the June election and do a thorough investigation to make sure that democracy in this province wasn't hijacked to give Brian Mulroney's daughter a shot at Ontario's most senior political post.