For years the Ontario Conservatives have hammered away at Premier Kathleen Wynne for running what they call a “corrupt” and “scandal-ridden” government that will do anything to stay in power.

They pointed at alleged scandals ranging from gas-plant fiascos, a Sudbury byelection bribery case, questionable budget-keeping and more as proof the government had lost all integrity, had no conscience and would stop at nothing to win the next election.

So furious were the Tories with their hyped-up outrage that you almost expected them to shout “Lock Her Up” at any moment.

Suddenly, though, it turns out it may be the Progressive Conservatives themselves — not the Liberals — that is the real party of rot and corruption at Queen’s Park.

Indeed, interim leader Vic Fedeli has pledged to concentrate on “rooting out “the rot” that has spread throughout the party in recent years.

That rot includes tainted membership lists, controversial candidate nomination meetings, questionable party finances, bullying allegations and failure to conduct — or in some cases possibly overlooking — full background checks on senior party officials.

Worse, though, is the fact that senior party leaders, including some of the most vocal Wynne critics, have been turning a blind eye to the rot and corruption within their own party for years.

Since 2016, warnings have been sounded by rank-and-file members about abuses going on within the Patrick Brown-led party hierarchy.

But the warnings were blatantly ignored or cavalierly dismissed by top Conservative bosses and elected MPPs as the lonely complaints of party cranks.

Richard Ciano, the past Tory president, told the Star in the wake of Brown’s resignation that there are “very serious issues and problems and concerns around membership fraud, around fraudulent nomination meetings and around a whole host of issues that border really on corruption.”

While it’s good Fedeli is looking into the party’s own admitted mess, the question is what took him, other MPPs and party officials so long to speak up.

Were they, like the Liberals they love to criticize, willing to remain silent about their own rot to avoid anything that might derail what they see as an easy road to victory in the June 7 provincial election?

Back in 2016, local riding associations started raising questions about a serious shortfall in party fundraising and about how they were being treated by Brown and senior party officials.

Over that summer, local officials spoke of a party filled with internal strife. Many riding associations were furious over what they termed as bullying, threats and a growing rift between the grassroots and the party executive.

Their anger was focused on Bob Stanley, executive director of the Ontario Conservative Party, Babu Nagalingam, a senior Toronto-area organizer and Rick Dykstra, the party president. They spoke of “gag orders” and “threats being made” to riding executives over nomination proceedings and fundraising efforts.

But Tory MPPs and other influential Conservatives did nothing.

In the summer of 2017, charges of “thuggery” and “political chaos” aimed at party bosses resurfaced. It was so bad that three entire rising executive teams quit en masse. More than a dozen riding nominations were in question after allegations of “dirty tricks” on behalf of Brown-favoured candidates.

Still nothing was done.

Now there are serious questions about whether party officials knew about allegations of sexual assault against Dykstra during the time he was a federal MP. Dykstra quit suddenly as party president just days after Brown resigned. He has denied any wrongdoing.

But legitimate questions are being raised about whether senior party officials knew about the allegations against Dykstra and Brown, and if they did, why they did nothing at that time.

Slowly the party is starting to take some action. Last weekend it overturned candidate nomination elections in Scarborough Centre and Ottawa West-Nepean. But it’s done nothing on numerous other riding fights.

In a boosterish letter he sent Wednesday to fellow MPPs, Fedeli claimed the Tories have “never been stronger or in better shape.” The interim leader said there’s been a surge in fundraising and in people volunteering to help in the election since Brown stepped down.

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Despite all the controversies swirling around them, the Conservatives still appear headed for victory in June. A poll last week by Campaign Research indicated the party has actually extended its lead over both the Liberals and NDP now that Brown is gone.

Still, given all the “rot” and “scandal” within their own ranks, it’s fair to ask: If this is how the Conservatives run their own party, how will they run the province?

Bob Hepburn's column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca

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