Based on the explosive allegations against Patrick Brown, I believe he has no choice but to resign as PC leader of Ontario. He may very well be not guilty, that will be decided in a court of law, but anyone running for premier must not have even mere suspicion of such behaviour. For both the good of the province, which needs Wynne removed, and the good of the party he should resign in the next week so they can choose a new leader and keep the party together. I would recommend caucus unite behind one person who is best able to lead the party. My suggestions are either Lisa Macleod or Vic Fidelli. I no longer live in Ontario but I still want to see the PCs win this coming June and as someone who has zero tolerance for sexual abuse, I could not in good conscious vote for a party with a leader under the cloud of suspicion. Yes this will damage the party, but if he resigns soon and a new leader is chosen in an orderly fashion, I believe the party can still recover, but if not the party will suffer big time and even if it could still win with Brown, it would be hypocritical based on my values to endorse him. I know some will say what if he is innocent; I agree that is important, but avoiding criminal charges is much different than becoming premier. The former is a right and one should only be convicted if it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The latter is a privilege and mere suspicion makes one ineligible. So for the good of the province and the PC party, Brown needs to resign and do so soon. If he tries to fight to stay on it will show he cares more about his own ambition than the good of the province or his party.
UPDATE: Patrick Brown has resigned as leader. Good to see the party jump on this fast. My recommendation is due to short timeframe caucus choose the new leader. My choice is Lisa Macleod as the next leader. For those who say it is too late for the party come back, may I remind you New Zealand’s current prime-minister Jacinda Ardern was chosen as Labour leader only 2 months, not 4.5 months before the election where her party was 20 points behind the polls and now she is prime-minister of New Zealand so definitely doable.
afiscalconservativepointofview 