Patrick Brown is the mayor of Brampton, Ont., and is also running for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Brown is on a trip to Atlantic Canada, visiting communities and speaking with residents.
During a stop in Saint John on July 4, Brown said he wants to build a “big tent” Conservative party.
“That will attend to traditional conservative issues, whether it’s cleaning up the financial chaos in Ottawa, building a national energy corridor, and of course Energy East out here, a justice system that reflects the rights of victims as much as it does criminals,” Brown said in an interview.
Brown said he also wants to double down on the “Canadian dream” of equality of opportunity for everyone, noting there are barriers that currently exist.
“You look at Bill 21 in Quebec where people are losing their jobs based on their faith,” he said. “My brand of conservatism is to fight for every Canadian. We’re going to protect religious freedom and we’re going to stand up for every segment of the Canadian family.”
During his time in Atlantic Canada, Brown said he has heard similar issues others from across the country want to be addressed.
“The affordability crisis, housing prices, the soaring price of energy, the inflationary pressures that we’re seeing on a national level. Our prime minister runs the government treasury like a printing press and is pouring gasoline on the inflationary pressures we’re seeing in our country,” he said.
Brown is one of six candidates running for the leadership. The other candidates include Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Dr. Leslyn Lewis, Roman Baber, and Scott Aitchison.
When it comes to the race itself, Brown believes his biggest competition is Poilievre.
“He represents a very extreme version of conservatism that I do not agree with. He’s been on the wrong side of history, whether it was marriage equality, whether it was combating hate against Muslim Canadians, or even now with economic policies announced for the country that he would fight inflation with cryptocurrency. I find that bewildering, and if you have taken his financial advice, you would have lost a fortune.”
At the same time, Brown said there are candidates that he has a lot of similarities with.
“Jean Charest is a good friend. I think Canada owes him a debt of gratitude for the role he played in 1995 for keeping Canada together. I think he’s a great Canadian and he shares my values of inclusive conservatism,” said Brown.
“Frankly, I look at the other candidates and they got a lot to offer too. I look at Dr. Leslyn Lewis and how she’s put forward some impressive policy on how to make adoptions easier. I look at Scott Aitchison who was a mayor not too far away from where I was and takes a very collaborative approach that I admire. I look at Roman Baber who challenged the orthodoxy when it came to lockdowns before it was necessarily more common in perspective. So, I see a lot of good being put forward.”
Brown will be in New Brunswick until Wednesday, where he also has stops in Moncton and Edmundston.
Conservatives will elect their new leader on Sept. 10.
