TORONTO -- A recently ejected member of the Progressive Conservatives says he was already planning to leave the party when leader Patrick Brown got wind of it and kicked him out.
Brown said in a statement Sunday that he was booting Jack MacLaren from the caucus because of a video from 2012 showing him hinting at a hidden agenda and making negative comments about French language rights.
But MacLaren says the video wasn't an issue for the party five years ago, so why it would become one today is a mystery to him.
MacLaren says he joined the Trillium party on Friday and had planned a news conference for Tuesday, but when the Progressive Conservatives became aware, they kicked him out Sunday morning.
One of the main reasons MacLaren says he left the Tories is because he is against a carbon tax, something Brown has advocated for in place of the current cap-and-trade system.
MacLaren briefly took his seat in the legislature today -- it had been moved a few feet away from the PCs -- but he is technically sitting as an independent.
