What did he know and when did he know it?

Those questions are dogging Patrick Brown nearly two weeks after the Progressive Conservatives circulated 13,000 letters during the Scarborough-Rouge River byelection promising to “scrap” the new sex education curriculum if elected in 2018.

While the Tory leader finally renounced that stance five days later in a Star article, there are lingering doubts about his assertion he did not know about the missive — in English and Chinese — bearing his signature.

The day after Tory Raymond Cho’s stunning byelection win Thursday, The Canadian Press revealed an email from Brown’s chief of staff, Nicolas Pappalardo, to antisex education candidate Queenie Yu, touting the letter.

That email — with the subject heading “Letter from the Leader of the PC Party of Ontario” —was time-stamped at 12:43 p.m. on Aug. 25, which is before Brown was alleged to have even seen it.

“Queenie, as a courtesy, please find attached an open letter to parents from the Leader of the PC Party of Ontario. It will be distributed in the riding this weekend. Best Regards, Nicolas,” reads the message, which Yu provided to the Star on Tuesday.

That’s problematic because it is an indication that Brown’s office was behind the move — not overzealous local activists on Cho’s campaign as Brown initially said.

“I realize there are passionate feelings on this issue in Scarborough but they certainly went further than I was comfortable with,” the PC leader told NewsTalk 1010’s John Moore on Aug. 30.

“I accept full responsibility for what was done in my name, but I can tell you that when I heard about it — I was up north at the time — I was upset,” he added.

Brown was not available Tuesday and Pappalardo, a former adviser to prime minister Stephen Harper, declined to answer specific questions from the Star.

“I will not comment on . . . internal party matters,” the chief of staff said in an email.

But PC Party president Rick Dykstra admitted on CP24 last Thursday night that he, too, was aware the letter was going out.

“Well, the letter, obviously, when it was first put out, I knew about, yes, because it, obviously, was being distributed,” Dykstra, a friend of Brown’s, told the all-news station during its live byelection night coverage.

“And look that’s behind us. We made a decision on that. Our leader put his letter out and his statement out on the issue and I think tonight has proven that the people of this riding want nothing more than to elect a Conservative to the Legislature,” said the party president.

Brown said to reporters last Thursday night that he was “livid” about the letter.

“Certainly, I wasn’t involved in it and that’s one of the reasons that I was so upset about it,” the leader said, adding changes to his campaign organization would be forthcoming.

“I’m certainly going to be looking at our organization and how we conduct things. I obviously wasn’t happy with that,” he said.

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“The lesson for me is to continue to focus on the fundamentals: hydro, on jobs, on health care. I have no interest in wading into social issues.”

TIMELINE:

Aug. 24: The date on a letter on Ontario PC Party stationery signed by Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown promising — in English and in Chinese — that the Tories would “scrap” Premier Kathleen Wynne’s sex-education curriculum if elected in 2018.

Aug. 25: Brown’s chief of staff, Nicolas Pappalardo, emails independent candidate Queenie Yu – a former Tory activist running to protest the sex education syllabus that is unpopular among social conservatives — to let her know the letter will be handed out that weekend.

Aug. 26: The Toronto Sun’s Christina Blizzard reveals the Tories have distributed the letter in the riding. PC MPP Monte McNaughton tweets a photo of himself campaigning in Woodside Square in Scarborough with a volunteer who appears to be showing the Chinese-language version of the letter to people dining in the food court.

Aug. 27: Brown unleashes a five-part Twitter barrage to address “the media interest in the sex ed form letter from Scarborough-Rouge River,” that does not indicate whether or not he would scrap the curriculum.

Aug. 28: In a Sunday conference call with Tory MPPs and senior party officials, Brown updates his colleagues on the state of the Scarborough-Rouge River byelection and discusses the sex education flap.

Aug. 29: More than 24 hours after the conference call, Brown releases to the Star a 398-word opinion piece apologizing for the “mistake,” blaming “the campaign in Scarborough-Rouge River” for wishing “to express these concerns.”

Aug. 30: Brown does a major media blitz appearing on CBC Radio, NewsTalk 1010, CP24, AM640, among other news outlets to spread the message of contrition from his Star article.

Sept. 1: Tory candidate Raymond Cho wins the Scarborough-Rouge River byelection in a stunning rebuke of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, who have held the seat for a generation. Cho’s win gives Brown’s Tories their first Toronto seat.

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