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Ontario PC Deputy Leaders Sylvia Jones and Steve Clark then released a joint statement of their own, saying, “Mr. Brown is entitled to a legal defence and due process, but he cannot lead us into an election as a result of these allegations.”

Parse that statement for a moment and the inconsistency becomes glaringly obvious. Brown is entitled to a legal defence and due process. But all that comes after he is stripped of his title, ousted from his office, and politically and personally destroyed.

Parse it further and the disturbing questions become even more acute. Brown is entitled to a legal defence and due process.

Is he? Really?

The two women who came forward reported not to an HR department or to police, but to a television studio. They have chosen to remain anonymous. They have given no indication of any intention to file a civil suit or pursue a criminal claim with police.

This is their absolute right and they have no obligation to do otherwise. If true, disclosing their experiences, even anonymously, is an act of bravery and defiance that speaks to the legions of women who have chosen to suffer in silence.

Their allegations are lurid, embarrassing and disturbing. If true, they are not the actions of a respectful and thoughtful man. If true, they describe conduct I would not want to see my own two daughters subjected to in the workplace. If true, they are emblematic of someone manifestly unfit for the mantle of public of leadership.