What does Patrick Brown's leadership bid mean for the #MeToo movement?
Patrick Brown announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives last week, less than a month after he himself vacated the position over allegations of sexual misconduct.
He decided to run again after inconsistencies emerged in the allegations made against him, in a move that raises question about journalistic standards and the #MeToo movement.
"Patrick Brown says his name has been cleared," said Mike Crawley, the CBC's Ontario provincial affairs reporter.
"But if the media story, and his party caucus dumping him as leader was judge, jury and executioner — Patrick Brown's trying to be a one-man appeals court."
"Those inconsistencies don't necessarily mean that the story that the women told was not fundamentally, overall true," he added.
CTV acknowledged the inconsistency, but is standing by the overall story.
By running, Crawley said many people think Brown is trying to vindicate himself.
"That's risky for him, because let's say he doesn't win, does that prove that the accusations were correct and that the party was right to dump him?"
The #MeToo election?
Brown's bid poses larger problems for the Progressive Conservative party, and questions for the #MeToo movement, said Randi Rahamim, a principal at public strategy and consultancy firm Navigator.
"I think the biggest risk for the Ontario PC party is that the voters view this as a proxy issue for the #MeToo movement overall," she said.
"People will be looking to how the PC party actually handles this issue as a way to judge the party on this issue."
She thinks the issue could derail the policy discussions that need to happen in Ontario prior to the June election.
"We're going to be very much focused on the issues of leadership, on internal politics, and on the #MeToo movement instead."
Rahamim does not think the #MeToo movement has peaked in Canada, but as more allegations come to light, there may be a change in mood on how to deal with them.
"We're seeing people trip over themselves to try and be on the right side of this issue," she said.
"People are scared… and they don't care about how they actually get to the truth and the facts."
"They just want to be perceived to be on the right side of this issue."
The Progressive Conservatives could have dealt with allegations against Brown differently, she said, but they acted swiftly to "lance the boil."
She points to how TVO approached allegations against Steve Paikin.
"TVO actually took the lead and said: 'You know what? There are these allegations. We're going to actually not act too swiftly, we're going to act swiftly in our response but our response is going to be an independent third party. And then once we get the facts, we're going to make a decision.'"
"That's the first time I think in Canada we've seen an organization take more of a step back and say: 'Let's give this the proper consideration this deserves and then make a decision.'"
'An incredible political soap opera'
John Ibbitson, writer-at-large for the Globe and Mail, said that CTV is a "deeply reputable organization," but that question about the inconsistencies are important.
"If CTV has somehow committed some really fundamental breach of conduct in the way it reported and broadcast the story, then it would deserve everything that happens to it."
"But unless and until that occurs I am not prepared to abandon the substance of the accusations."
Brown still needs to be approved by the party before he can run, but his supporters insist that he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Ibbitson said that due process is "a legal challenge rather than a political challenge," but these days, politics has turned into a "wild soap opera."
"Indeed due process might result in the fact that a man who has been accused of sexual misconduct, whose senior staff quit within minutes of the accusation, whose own caucus completely rejected him, is going to run again for the leader of his own party."
"It's very hard to fathom, I have to confess."
Listen to the full conversation at the top of this page, where you can also share this article across email, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.
This segment was produced by The Current's Rosa Kim, Samira Mohyeddin and Jessica Linzey.