Patrick Brown was apparently in the loop during the PC party’s secret talks with social conservatives about scrapping the sex education curriculum — despite his denials.

That explosive allegation, which contradicts Brown’s version of events surrounding the Scarborough-Rouge River byelection saga, was levelled Tuesday by Tanya Granic Allen, head of a group opposed to the sex curriculum.

At issue is the Progressive Conservative leader’s involvement in an orchestrated bid to convince independent social-conservative candidate Queenie Yu to drop out of the byelection to boost the chances of Tory candidate Raymond Cho, who eventually won the Sept. 1 vote.

While the Tories failed to get Yu to quit, they still circulated 13,000 letters in the riding — in English and Chinese and under Brown’s signature — promising to “scrap” the sex-ed curriculum if elected in 2018.

“It is my understanding that this letter originated in his office and he was involved with it,” said Granic Allen, who was in negotiations last month with Brown’s chief of staff Nicolas Pappalardo, though she did not “have direct communication with Patrick in this specific instance.”

“If a chief of staff takes his marching orders from the leader of the party, then I would be very confident to say that Patrick was aware of what was going on the whole time,” said the president of Parents As First Educators, which claims 75,000 supporters across Ontario.

Pappalardo, who did not return messages seeking comment, asked her to make some “suggestions of possible commitments that Brown could make” to satisfy opponents of the curriculum, Granic Allen said.

“There was a back-and-forth — and, again, it was them approaching me not the other way round — to get language that would be suitable for parents of Ontario,” she said.

“I suggested ‘repeal’ . . . and I was very clearly told . . . that Patrick preferred ‘scrap.’ ”

Asked whether Brown, who has repeatedly denied knowledge of a letter bearing his signature, is telling the truth, she paused: “How do I respond to that?”

Brown did not return messages on Granic Allen’s allegations.

Granic Allen said she was flabbergasted when the Tory leader renounced the letter’s contents and endorsed the new curriculum, which includes lessons on gender expression, same-sex relationships, and the dangers of sexting.

“I couldn’t understand how that would have been possible, because it was pretty understood to me all along that he was involved in many steps of this process.”

As first disclosed by the Star last Friday, his office was quietly cajoling Yu to quit.

On Aug. 10, Yu registered with Elections Ontario her intention to run as an independent candidate.

On Aug. 12, Pappalardo invited Yu and Granic Allen to meet at a Tim Hortons near Queen’s Park to discuss what the Tories could do to get Yu to step aside.

On Aug. 13, Granic Allen emailed Pappalardo with a list what Brown could say to appease social conservatives.

On Aug. 14, Brown, Pappalardo, and other Tories held a conference call on what they characterized as Granic Allen’s “demands.” They rejected her suggestion that former MPP Garfield Dunlop, a sex-education proponent who resigned his Orillia-area seat last year for Brown and is now an adviser to the leader, have no role in setting PC education policy. Talks were at an impasse.

On Aug. 17, Yu filed her nomination papers with Elections Ontario, formally becoming a candidate running on a platform opposing sex education.

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On Aug. 18 at 6:03 a.m., Parents As First Educators sent an email to supporters urging them to vote for Yu. At 7:40 a.m., a frustrated Pappalardo emailed Yu a draft of a statement Brown had been prepared to release before the 2 p.m. deadline for her to withdraw. It said “a PC government would introduce a new curriculum after thoughtful and full consultation with parents.” But Pappalardo said the social conservatives’ move meant that “instead of a win for the cause, the bridge is being blown up.”

On Aug. 24, the Tories printed 13,000 copies on party letterhead of a message from Brown vowing to “scrap” the sex-education syllabus.

On Aug. 25, Pappalardo emailed Yu a copy of “an open letter to parents from the leader of the PC Party of Ontario” that “will be distributed in the riding this weekend.”

On Aug. 26, the letter became public in the Toronto Sun and Brown took to Twitter to discuss sex education, but did not distance himself from the byelection message.

On Aug. 28, Brown led another conference call and got an earful from Tory MPPs unhappy at his apparent flip-flopping on a polarizing issue that could haunt them in the 2018 election.

On Aug. 29, Brown wrote a 398-word opinion piece for the Star, saying the letter was “a mistake” and maintaining a Tory government would keep the sex-ed curriculum.

On Aug. 30, in a flurry of media interviews, Brown blamed overzealous local activists on Cho’s campaign for the letter. He told AM640’s John Oakley Show that he “saw it afterwards. But, you know, I was up north, and I saw what was . . . being reported in media, I wasn’t comfortable, it didn’t reflect my views.”

On Sept. 1, Cho won the byelection and Brown told reporters he was “livid” about the letter. PC Party president Rick Dykstra, a close Brown ally and fellow former Conservative MP, admitted on CP24 that: “when it was first put out, I knew about, yes, because it, obviously, was being distributed.”

On Sept. 15, Brown told the Star he was “not going to comment on internal operations” when asked if his office tried to convince Yu to step aside.

On Sept. 19, after the Sun published emails to the Campaign Life Coalition from last year saying he “will repeal” sex education, Brown issued a statement saying “my views on Ontario’s sexual education curriculum — and similar issues — have evolved.”

Earlier Tuesday, at the International Plowing Match near Harriston, Ont., Brown evaded questions on why he has suddenly renounced social conservatives when his office was negotiating with them so recently.

“I’ve made it very clear where I stand on it. Like most Ontarians, my views have evolved. And I try to make it very clear I want to lead a modern, inclusive PC Party,” he said, again describing the letter as “a mistake.”

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