An interesting read. It outlines what happened the day that Brown learned CTV had evidence of Brown's sexual adventures.
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The last hours of Patrick Brown’s leadership
- Stephen Maher
From the CTV email that started it all to the chaotic gathering in his condo, here’s how Brown’s final hours as the Ontario PC leader played out
At 4:24 PM on Jan. 24, Glen McGregor, politics correspondent for CTV National News, emailed the assistant of Alykhan Velshi, chief of staff to Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown.
McGregor, a hard-nosed veteran of the parliamentary press gallery, had often crossed paths with Velshi when Velshi was working for Stephen Harper.
In Ottawa fashion, the two men had sometimes exchanged friendly banter when they ran into one another in downtown Ottawa bars, but for years McGregor dug up stories for the Ottawa Citizen that posed difficulties for the Harper government, and Velshi ran interference for the boss, often pushing confrontational media lines.
Their paths had not crossed since 2014, when Velshi left Harper’s office. Now they were connected again in new roles. A year earlier, Velshi had left global business consultants McKinsey & Company to act as Brown’s chief of staff. McGregor had left the Citizen and was now on CTV.
That afternoon, Velshi’s young assistant, Sarah, let him know that McGregor had contacted him. Velshi told her he would call him back. McGregor couldn’t wait. Half an hour later, he sent her the email.
“URGENT: For Alykhan Velshi”
Velshi’s assistant scanned it, forwarded it to Velshi and went to find him. He needed to look at it immediately.
The email (whose veracity was confirmed by Maclean’s) was shocking but not entirely unexpected.
Several days earlier, Brown had told his team that McGregor had made some calls asking about Brown’s relations with young women.
The fact that McGregor was looking into Brown’s past was concerning. Brown’s team knew that private eyes and reporters had poked around in Barrie, looking into rumours about Brown’s romantic life. But McGregor, an investigative reporter with a long track record of coming up with big stories, now working for the highest rated news channel in Canada, was a different matter.
The text of the email confirmed that McGregor’s inquiry was indeed different.
The rest is here.
The last hours of Patrick Brown's leadership - Macleans.ca
---
The last hours of Patrick Brown’s leadership
- Stephen Maher
From the CTV email that started it all to the chaotic gathering in his condo, here’s how Brown’s final hours as the Ontario PC leader played out
At 4:24 PM on Jan. 24, Glen McGregor, politics correspondent for CTV National News, emailed the assistant of Alykhan Velshi, chief of staff to Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown.
McGregor, a hard-nosed veteran of the parliamentary press gallery, had often crossed paths with Velshi when Velshi was working for Stephen Harper.
In Ottawa fashion, the two men had sometimes exchanged friendly banter when they ran into one another in downtown Ottawa bars, but for years McGregor dug up stories for the Ottawa Citizen that posed difficulties for the Harper government, and Velshi ran interference for the boss, often pushing confrontational media lines.
Their paths had not crossed since 2014, when Velshi left Harper’s office. Now they were connected again in new roles. A year earlier, Velshi had left global business consultants McKinsey & Company to act as Brown’s chief of staff. McGregor had left the Citizen and was now on CTV.
That afternoon, Velshi’s young assistant, Sarah, let him know that McGregor had contacted him. Velshi told her he would call him back. McGregor couldn’t wait. Half an hour later, he sent her the email.
“URGENT: For Alykhan Velshi”
Velshi’s assistant scanned it, forwarded it to Velshi and went to find him. He needed to look at it immediately.
The email (whose veracity was confirmed by Maclean’s) was shocking but not entirely unexpected.
Several days earlier, Brown had told his team that McGregor had made some calls asking about Brown’s relations with young women.
The fact that McGregor was looking into Brown’s past was concerning. Brown’s team knew that private eyes and reporters had poked around in Barrie, looking into rumours about Brown’s romantic life. But McGregor, an investigative reporter with a long track record of coming up with big stories, now working for the highest rated news channel in Canada, was a different matter.
The text of the email confirmed that McGregor’s inquiry was indeed different.
The rest is here.
The last hours of Patrick Brown's leadership - Macleans.ca
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