Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown kicked out Jack MacLaren from caucus only after learning the MPP was planning to bolt for the fledgling Trillium party.

“I’ve been having conversations … with the Trillium party for several weeks,” MacLaren told the Star in an interview in the legislative office he vacated Monday because it was assigned to the Tories.

“Last week, it all just came together and we made the decision on Friday that I would join the Trillium party and step down from the Progressive Conservatives,” the Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP said.

“We had planned to make a public announcement tomorrow, Tuesday afternoon, at 3:30 p.m. We booked the (Queen’s Park) media studio. But the (PC) party got wind, I guess, of what we were planning and then did what they did yesterday.”

MacLaren was referring to Brown’s statement Sunday that he was banishing the Ottawa-area MPP from caucus for making “unacceptable” comments in a 2012 video in which he criticized French-language rights.

“This video is the final straw. I have expelled Jack MacLaren from the PC caucus. The expulsion is indefinite. He will not be a PC candidate in the next provincial election,” said the Tory leader of a recording that first appeared on CFRA radio in Ottawa.

“Each time Jack MacLaren is caught making disparaging or insensitive remarks about others, he asks for forgiveness and a second chance. And a third chance. And a fourth. And each and every time, he has disappointed those who have put their trust in him,” he continued.

But MacLaren, who said he “never” speaks to Brown despite having co-chaired his 2015 leadership campaign, said he planned to leave long before the video surfaced Sunday.

“The PC party knew about it five years ago. Nobody five years ago cared. Nobody complained. It was a non-event, so for that to be brought up now as a problem is odd,” the MPP said.

Asked if he thought Brown merely took action before he could formally leave the party, MacLaren said: “That’s a fair assessment.”

Bolstering his version of events is a four-page, full-colour glossy Trillium party flyer distributed Monday at Queen’s Park featuring his photo and touting him as the candidate for the new riding of Kanata-Carleton.

Trillium party Leader Bob Yaciuk, a former Conservative activist, confirmed that 1,500 of the brochures were printed last week, ready to be shared Tuesday.

Created by disaffected Tories after the 2014 election, Trillium bills itself as a “common sense” party that believes in less intrusive government and “family values,” and opposes a carbon tax.

Brown ducked reporters at the legislature on Monday, but the PC deputy leader, Steve Clark, disputed MacLaren’s account.

“I never heard that he was going to leave for another party,” said Clark, the MPP for Leeds-Grenville.

“From my perspective, the first time I saw the video was on the weekend and I think the leader acted decisively and the caucus supports him 100 per cent,” he said.

Deputy Premier Deb Matthews said it seems as if the Tories are scrambling to make the best of a bad situation.

“Brown is saying he kicked him out, but MacLaren said that he was ready to go — that he was upset he was being scooped. So Brown is pretending to have taken action, but he only took action because he knew MacLaren was leaving,” said Matthews.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

MacLaren said he decided to part ways with the Tories because he is disillusioned with Brown’s leadership and disappointed that the party does not allow more free votes so MPPs can vote with their conscience.

“When you’re told to vote against something you’re opposed to or not comfortable with … I feel cowardly when I have to do that,” he said.

“It just eats me to have to put my hand up to vote Yes. That’s certainly democracy denied.”

Ironically, MacLaren skipped his first two votes as a Trillium MPP.

The outspoken MPP has been no stranger to controversy since being elected in 2011.

In April 2016, the Star revealed MacLaren made sexist remarks about his federal counterpart, Liberal MP Karen McCrimmon, at a cancer fundraiser at the Carp Fair in front of 350 people.

That led Brown to order him into sensitivity training.

Days later, it was found that his official website had six fake testimonials from satisfied “constituents” illustrated with by photos lifted from the Internet.

Then, earlier this year, MacLaren was forced to apologize for saying it was dangerous to have a zero-tolerance policy for doctors accused of sexually abusing their patients.

Liberated from the PC shackles, the Trillium party MPP acknowledged it will be a tough slog in the election scheduled for June 7, 2018.

MacLaren admitted his candidacy may divide conservative voters between the Tories and Trillium party, enabling the Liberals to win the seat.

“There’s always that risk.”

With files from Rob Ferguson

Read more about: