The Ontario Progressive Conservatives will have a leadership race after Patrick Brown stepped down amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The party's executive voted today to hold the race and select a new leader sometime before March, ahead of the spring election.
Party president Rick Dykstra says the executive has not yet established a firm time frame for the race.
The executive's decision runs contrary to the wishes of the party's caucus, which named Tory finance critic Vic Fedeli as interim leader earlier in the day and wanted him to serve as permanent party leader through the upcoming election.
The PC caucus selected the Nipissing MPP to be the interim leader of the party on Friday morning. Fedeli is also the party's finance critic.
York Simcoe PC candidate Caroline Mulroney’s name was floated around as a possible choice for the position. So was MPP Lisa MacLeod and former MPP Christine Elliott.
Brown announced his resignation as party leader early Thursday, hours after emphatically denying what he called "troubling allegations" about his conduct and his character.
In an exclusive interview with CTV News, two women accused Brown of sexual misconduct at this Barrie home.
The allegations haven’t been tested in court and no official complaint has been filed to police.
Fedeli has called Brown's alleged actions "deplorable." He also said, however, that he "never saw anything that would have indicated any activity such as that" during the time he spent with Brown.
The PC caucus will investigate how it dealt with allegations raised against Brown, Fedeli said, noting he would not support Brown remaining on as a Tory legislator if the allegations have not been addressed.
"If these allegations are standing at the time of the election I would not sign Patrick Brown's nomination papers," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press.
