Patrick Brown says he will not run under Conservative Party if Poilievre wins leadership race

Brampton mayor and Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown says he would not run under the party in the next election if Pierre Poilievre takes charge.

In the case that Poilievre does become the next leader, Brown said he would consider remaining in his mayoral position.

Brown made the comments during an interview on CBC's Power and Politics on Thursday.

"The nomination deadline for mayor of Brampton is August 19," host Vassy Kapelos asked Brown, "will you be putting in your papers for that or have you ruled that out?"

"My only plan right now is to run for the federal Conservative leadership, and take our party into government into the next election," Brown replied, noting that if he was not successful, his path would depend on who had won.

"If there's another candidate that won–if Jean Charest won, or Leslyn Lewis was successful, could I run under them? Absolutely! They have the capacity to win the next general election."

"With Pierre Poilievre," Brown continued, "I just don't believe he could win seats in the GTA. I think his message is too divisive and I don't believe, even as a popular mayor in the GTA, that I could win a seat with a leader like Pierre Poilievre."

"For me, following the federal route with Pierre wouldn't make much sense."

Brown doubled down so as not to send potential voters the wrong message, stating that he hasn't even thought about returning to municipal politics.

"If Pierre was successful," he added, "that's something that I suppose I would consider."

Kapelos pointed out that since mayoral candidates need to file their nomination papers by August 19, and the Conservative leadership race doesn't end until September 10, Brown wouldn't know whether Poilievre was successful until after it was too late to run for mayor.

Brown responded by saying he has "no plans" to put his papers in.

He and Poilievre have had a less than cordial relationship over the course of the leadership race, with both candidates taking aim at one another.

Poilievre recently gained the endorsements of two Conservative MPs who had previously supported Brown.