As a tearful Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown was denying allegations of inappropriate behaviour with two young women, four of his top aides quit his campaign.In a dramatic, hastily called news conference held 15 minutes before CTV News broke the news of teenagers’ encounters with Brown, the ashen-faced leader insisted he did nothing wrong.“A couple of hours ago, I learned of troubling allegations about my conduct and character,” the Tory chief said in quavering voice prior to the 10 p.m. broadcast.“These allegations are false. Every one of them. I will defend myself as hard as I can with any means at my disposal. In short, I reject these accusations in the strongest possible terms.” said Brown.“I can’t speculate on the motive of my accusers, I can only say they what they are saying is categorically untrue.“I know that the court of public opinion moves fast. I have instructed my attorneys to ensure that these allegations are addressed where they should be: in a court of law.”Noting his two sisters are his “best friends,” Brown stressed “it’s never okay for anyone to feel they have been a victim of sexual harassment or feel threatened in any way.”With an election on June 7, the Star has learned that Brown’s chief of staff, Alykhan Velshi, his campaign manager, Andrew Boddington, his advertising guru, Dan Robertson, and his press secretary Nicholas Bergamini resigned en masse.The four key players – all well-regarded in political circles – felt they could not continue to work for the leader.Brown, a teetotalling 39-year-old bachelor, has been leader of the PC party since May 2015.He has made a point of expanding the appeal of the party to cultural communities and has recruited more female and visible minority candidates than the Tories have ever fielded.On his watch the Conservatives have raised millions of dollars and attracted 200,000 members.With pu ...
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