A spokesperson for York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney suggested Patrick Brown is pursuing “old grievances” in his new book, in which he wrote former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney bargained over his daughter’s political career.
"Facts relating to Patrick Brown’s lack of credibility are well documented and on the public record, as are his motivations in using his book to pursue old grievances,” said Jess Trepanier, press secretary for Caroline Mulroney, in a statement to BradfordToday on Thursday morning.
Brown, now the mayor of Brampton, alleged in his new tell-all biography — Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown — that Brian Mulroney promised him a place at the “centre” of Caroline Mulroney’s government if he pledged his support to help her become party leader, and eventually premier.
Brown wrote that he had a late-night meeting with Brian Mulroney and Caroline Mulroney’s husband, Andrew Lapham, in a downtown Toronto hotel’s presidential suite. Caroline Mulroney was not present.
Brown, who had resigned by this point, alleged the group met to discuss putting his political and organizational support behind Caroline Mulroney, who was running for the Tory leadership at the time.
"...you'll be at the centre of her government," Brown alleged the former prime minister promised him, calling it a "handshake deal."
In Brown’s book, he also alleged that months before this meeting, he offered Caroline Mulroney to run for Tory nomination in Toronto, as well as an offer to run in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding, both of which she turned down.
Brown also wrote Brian Mulroney was against Caroline Mulroney running in Burlington, ON because he felt "it was a swing seat."
Caroline Mulroney ended up winning the nomination — and a seat in the legislature — in the York-Simcoe riding, which includes East Gwillimbury, King, Georgina and Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Under Doug Ford’s Conservatives, she was named Ontario’s attorney general.
Brown’s book also delves behind the scenes of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party following his sudden resignation as leader amid sexual misconduct allegations he denies.
Read more details about the book online.
— With files from Canadian Press
