Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is officially seeking a third term, after filing his candidacy papers at City Hall. The move formalizes his bid to keep leading one of the country's fastest-growing cities and sets up another campaign for the incumbent as the race takes shape.
Looking back on his time in office, Brown pointed to the challenges the city faced when he first took over. He recalled that there were real problems at the outset, including a lack of approvals for a new hospital and shortfalls in policing, transit and recreation infrastructure that he said needed to be addressed.
Framing his campaign around continuity, Brown signalled that it would be full speed ahead on the big Brampton projects. He cast his candidacy as a way to keep those large-scale developments moving rather than risk stalling them with a change at the top of city hall.
Brown will not have the field to himself. He joins seven other candidates who have already entered the mayoral race, setting up a crowded contest as the campaign gets underway ahead of the fall vote.
Brown was first elected mayor of Brampton in 2018. His move into municipal politics came after he stepped down as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party amid sexual misconduct allegations that dated back to his time as a federal member of Parliament. He denied those allegations and has maintained his innocence.
His political career has had other setbacks at the national level. In 2022, Brown was disqualified from a bid to become leader of the federal Conservative Party, an episode that drew significant attention before he refocused his ambitions on Brampton.
Now he is asking Brampton residents to return him to office for a third time. Voters head to the polls on October 26, when they will decide whether to give Brown another term or turn instead to one of the other candidates seeking the mayor's chair.