Local Tories react to Patrick Brown allegations

That announcement followed the resignation of Patrick Brown as the leader of the opposition Progressive Conservative party in the province of Ontario.

It was announced later in the day on Friday that PC Party executives have voted to hold a leadership race sometime before March 24, before the election campaign.

Vic Fedeli, 61, was selected by the PC caucus during a morning meeting and it’s not immediately clear if he will stay on to fight the spring election at the head of the party.

The caucus of elected legislators wanted Fedeli to lead the party through the election to avoid a divisive, and potentially costly, race.

“There is time to introduce somebody; there is time to put some advertising behind that person and there’s time to change the channel back to the Liberals’ failures”, he said. “I think the [Progressive Conservatives] are going to have to hustle pretty quickly to find a solution because those were pretty big shoes to fill”.

The leader of Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservatives, Jamie Baillie, resigned on Wednesday after a party investigation concluded he had breached a workplace harassment policy.

Bouma said the chances of the PCs winning the election remain strong.

“Ontario needs a change in government and we need to all be running in the same direction”, she said.

The party executive has said Fedeli will be allowed to run if he wishes, but the other rules are still being developed.

Brown said after consulting with caucus, friends and family, he chose to step down as leader, but would stay on as a member of the provincial legislature to clear his name.

Vic Fedeli named interim leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

“I can’t speculate on the motive of my accusers, I can only say that what they are saying is categorically untrue”, he said at a news conference on Wednesday night. He also downplayed the notion that the race could cause fractures in the party.

Brown’s sister, Stephanie Brown, said in a Facebook post that he was the victim of a “political hit”.

“You can marshal all your time, all your energy, all your resources, have a great big two-month-long infighting party, shooting ourselves in the foot while Kathleen Wynne has free rein to be out there unchallenged”, he said.

And that election is nearly here.It’s scheduled for June, leaving the Ontario PC less than five months to find a new leader and get that person in front of voters. Taking to Twitter, Lehman said, “Everyone deserves the right to be safe and feel safe in our community”.

MacLeod says she was told the rumours of “issues about women” were unfounded. “I look fwd to hearing more details”.

Caroline Mulroney is seeking the PC nomination in the provincial riding of York-Simcoe. The Canadian Press has not independently verified those allegations.

One of the stories that PC MPP Lisa MacLeod knew about, was that of the woman who had worked in Brown’s constituency office in 2013 while she was a university student.

Brown announced his resignation as party leader early Thursday, hours after emphatically denying what he called “troubling allegations” about his conduct and his character.