Jack MacLaren suggests he won’t resign his seat in combative CFRA interview

CTV Ottawa: Did Maclaren quit? Or was he fired? Angry MPP Jack Maclaren says he decided to leave PC Party before Leader Patrick Brown ordered him to leave.

Following his expulsion from the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus over the weekend, Carleton-Mississippi Mills MPP Jack MacLaren, who has now joined the Trillium Party of Ontario, implied he won’t be giving up his seat to run in a by-election under his new banner and lashed out at his former boss.

MacLaren became agitated when speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon Monday afternoon, when he was questioned about previous statements he’s made, which were cited by PC leader Patrick Brown as reasons for his removal from the party fold.

MacLaren told Solomon he had grown dissatisfied with the Tories and resigned from the party on Friday to join the Trillium Party, but said he had had no contact with Brown.

“Patrick Brown may have talked to you, but Patrick Brown never talked to me, and I haven’t talked to him in about a year,” MacLaren said.

After the interview, CFRA obtained the letter sent to MacLaren from Brown's Chief of Staff, the morning of May 28, 2017, informing him he had been expelled from caucus.

During the interview, MacLaren lashed out at Solomon, when questioned about the reasons for his dismissal.

“You’re talking about something that isn’t helping anybody,” MacLaren said. “There is no value in you or what you are saying! Get on to what’s important for the people Carleton-Mississippi Mills! What are you wasting people’s time for?”

When asked if he would resign his seat, MacLaren would only say he would serve his constituents better under the new party.

“I’m going to serve my people better than ever because I’m with a party that has values,” MacLaren said. “I’ve talked to the people in my riding about whether we should do this or not. I was advised this would be a very positive move, a good move. They encouraged me to do it because there was no value in the party we had before.”

PC MPP for Nepean-Carleton, Lisa MacLeod has called for MacLaren’s resignation.

And she reacted to MacLaren’s interview.

MacLaren was removed from the Tory caucus Sunday morning, after Brown became aware of a 2012 video in which MacLaren makes statements implying his party won’t discuss language rights issues on the campaign trail.

In the interview with Solomon, MacLaren called the video a "non-issue" and accused the Progressive Conservative Party establishment of being undemocratic.