Patrick Brown Says 2022 Tory Leadership Race Outcome Not Affected by Foreign Interference

Former candidate Patrick Brown participates in the Conservative Party leadership debate in Edmonton on May 11, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Brampton Mayor and former Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says the outcome of the 2022 race was not affected by foreign interference, after reports suggested his campaign team faced pressure from India.

“I don’t believe foreign intervention affected the final outcome of the Conservative leadership race. I believe that Pierre Poilievre was successful in that race because he signed 300,000 plus memberships, and I don’t believe acts of foreign intervention affected that result,” Brown testified before the public safety committee on Dec. 5.

Brown was called to appear before the committee following a CBC report citing anonymous sources who alleged that Indian government agents attempted to interfere with his campaign during the leadership race.

The report also said that Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, Brown’s campaign co-chair, withdrew her support after facing pressure from the Indian consulate. Brown denied the allegation.

“I don’t believe that was the case. When I spoke to Michelle directly, she was very clear with me that the reason she was departing was to run for the provincial leadership to replace [then-Alberta Premier] Jason Kenney,” Brown said. “At no time, when we talked about her departing the campaign, did she ever say it was because of pressure from the [Indian] consul general.”

Meanwhile, Brown confirmed that during the campaign, Rempel Garner received “an angry phone call” from a senior Indian representative, who complained about Brown’s use of the term “Sikh nation.”

“The consul general had expressed directly to MP Garner that was something that obviously they didn’t agree with, that it could be viewed in nationalistic terms towards the Sikh community,” Brown said, adding that following the call, he agreed to stop using the term.

Brown was asked by Liberal MP Jennifer O'Connell whether he finds it appropriate “for a foreign government to send a message to a sitting MP that you should be changing the language because it’s not welcomed by that foreign nation.”

Brown said, “I certainly think that the consul generals in India have been more robust in their opinions than some of us would be comfortable with.”

The Epoch Times contacted the High Commission of India in Ottawa for comment, but did not received a response immediately.

At the conclusion of the committee meeting, O‘Connell moved to have Rempel Garner and several members of the Brown campaign called to testify. O’Connell’s motion will be voted on at a future meeting.

Brown cited other incidents where he said the Indian mission expressed being “upset” with his stance, including his opposition to India’s 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which Brown described as discriminatory. The law fast-tracks Indian citizenship pathways for certain religious community groups from neighbouring countries but excludes others, including Muslims and Tamils.

“That obviously left organizations that represented India in Canada upset, and they relayed that to me directly, including the consul general at the time, who told me they believed my position on the CAA was wrong.”

Canada and India recently expelled diplomats amid a dispute linked to the killing of Canadian citizen and Khalistan independence activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023. On Oct. 14, Global Affairs Canada announced the expulsion of six Indian diplomats, noting “violent criminal activity linked to the Government of India.”

In retaliation, India expelled six Canadian diplomats, including Acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler. New Delhi also summoned Canada’s chargé d’affaires to protest the expulsions.

India has denied Canada’s allegations.