Former Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown has said he will appear before the House of Commons committee investigating foreign interference.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security is investigating allegations that Indian government officials engaged in election interference and criminal activity in Canada. Last week, members of the committee subpoenaed Mr. Brown, now the mayor of Brampton, Ont., after he had declined an earlier invitation.
Brown said in a social media post Monday that he has agreed to appear before the committee, but he still has doubts about whether his testimony will be helpful to the committee.
“There is no new evidence to contribute to the committee’s proceedings, and I am concerned that my appearance is being sought for political reasons,” he said in a statement.
He argued that a public inquiry into foreign interference led by Marie-Josée Hoag would have been a more appropriate forum. He said he had not been contacted by Hogue to testify.
Indian government agent He is said to have tried to derail Brown’s campaign for leadership. Sources who spoke to Radio-Canada say he plans to join the Conservative Party in 2022.
The Parliamentary National Security and Intelligence Committee (NSICOP) cited “alleged Indian interference in the Conservative Party of Canada leadership election” in its explosive report on foreign interference. An edited version of that report was published in June 2024.
“CSIS did not advise the Conservative Party of Canada of any information that suggested foreign interference in the leadership contest,” Conservative Party communications director Sarah Fisher said at the time. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
Radio-Canada has no evidence that current Conservative Party leader Pierre Poièvre was aware of the Indian agents’ alleged actions. He easily won the 2022 leadership election, receiving 68 percent of the available points in the first vote. Mr. Poièvre’s office told Radio-Canada that he was not aware of any attempts by Indian government representatives to undermine Mr. Brown’s campaign.
Brown said in a statement that there is no reason to believe that foreign interference influenced the outcome of the 2022 leadership race.
Mr Brown was disqualified by Conservative Party authorities in July 2022 after being accused of “serious misconduct” related to campaign finance. At the time, Brown accused the “party establishment” of “wanting to make sure Poilievre didn’t lose.”
Sources told Radio-Canada that Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, Brown’s national campaign co-chair, was allegedly pressured to withdraw her support for Brown. The Alberta MP denied these allegations in a written statement to Radio-Canada.
Ahead of a parliamentary committee meeting in Ottawa on Monday, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner will address allegations that she was pressured to withdraw her support for Patrick Brown during the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada government. CBC journalist Chris Lands walks away as he tries to ask a question. leadership race. Rempel Garner categorically denies the allegations. Sources told Radio-Canada that Indian government officials are believed to have tried to derail Brown’s 2022 campaign for party leadership.
A CBC News journalist approached Rempel Garner before the start of another committee meeting on Monday and asked about the allegations. Before the journalist could say anything about the allegations, Rempel Garner quickly got up from his seat and left the room. She then appeared virtually before the committee.
Rempel Garner resigned as co-chair of Brown’s campaign in June 2022, before the leadership race was finalized.
The senator said in a statement to Radio-Canada that he left Brown’s campaign “of his own accord.”
“I have never been coerced in any way by anyone at any time. “The situation is…it would be absurd for me to suggest otherwise,” Rempel Garner said in a statement.
Mr. Poilievre is the only leader who declined to obtain security clearance to view the unredacted version of the NSICOP report. He argued that doing so would prevent him from criticizing the Liberal government’s approach to dealing with foreign interference.
Asked about the allegations in the Radio-Canada report, Public Safety Minister Dominique LeBlanc said Poilievre should receive security clearance.
“I have great confidence in the work that CSIS is doing in terms of detecting and disrupting foreign interference. I wish he would have been interested enough to meet with me personally,” LeBlanc said. he told reporters.
