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Dunlop vows to continue to fight for PCs

Dunlop says he's 'not bitter' and wants to help topple Wynne Liberals
2018-01-29 dunlop.jpg
Garfield Dunlop

Garfield Dunlop, a Patrick Brown loyalist fired Sunday night as part of a shakeup in the upper leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, vows to do what he can to help the party defeat Kathleen Wynne in June’s election.

Dunlop, who served as Simcoe North’s MPP from 1999 until he stepped aside in 2015 to allow Brown to run in a byelection in the riding, said he was not surprised he was canned. He had served as an advisor to Brown for more than two years.

“When a new leader comes in, it’s pretty (standard) that they would change a lot of people in the office, so this was not a surprise at all,” Dunlop told OrilliaMatters Monday in his first public comments since Brown resigned Thursday morning amid allegations of sexual misconduct. “When Patrick came in (as leader), he brought in his own people. I’m not bitter at all. It’s not unusual.”

It has been an unusual week for the party. After two women made allegations of sexual misconduct in an interview with CTV Wednesday night, Brown denied the claim but then, several hours later, after pressure from within his caucus, resigned.

On Friday, Vic Fedeli was named the party’s interim leader and, soon after, the party decided they would have a leadership convention before the end of March to determine who would lead the party heading into the June election.

“Quite frankly, it’s all of a result of what happened last week with the allegations against (Brown),” Dunlop said. “I’m very disappointed in how the allegations took place because it looks more all the time like it was some inside stuff … nothing is concrete, but there are people looking into everything. I’m just disappointed that the whole party got off track.”

Despite the scandal, Dunlop said the party still enjoys support. “So far, our polling shows no impact whatsoever,” he said, noting “only 12% of people care about Wynne let alone like her. I think whoever is at the helm leading it, we’re going to do very well in this election and I think we have to get back on track as quickly as possible to get ready.”

Dunlop also said he is proud of how Brown resurrected the party. “Patrick has brought 200,000 new members to the party, erased the debt and had money in the bank,” said Dunlop. “In 2016, it was a record year for any provincial party (as it) raised $16 million. We’ve done a really good job and have a phenomenal group of young candidates prepared to run for us.”

The former Coldwater plumber said he remains proud of the role he played in that success. “I have to tell you I’m very proud of my accomplishments not only in this riding but in Queen’s Park,” he said, noting he raised close to $2 million for the party. “I’m very loyal to (Brown) and was doing a lot of work in the riding and in the party, fundraising, candidate searches, appeals, all this kind of thing.”

While Brown has kept a low profile since resigning, Dunlop said the deposed leader is “very well.” He said he has talked to Brown, who admitted he “felt like he was hit by a truck” after the allegations were made. He also conceded Brown made a mistake in calling a hasty press conference Wednesday night and should have waited until Thursday morning. “I think in the end, that was a bad decision. But the big thing is, this was clearly orchestrated and meant to destroy our party before the election and throw us in turmoil and that’s exactly what it’s done. But we’re used to fighting. And that’s what we plan to do.”

 


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Dave Dawson

About the Author: Dave Dawson

Dave Dawson is community editor of OrilliaMatters.com
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