I did not buy votes, says Brown

D'Arcy Ellis

Phillip Brown is an MLA for the Cascumpec-Grand River area of Prince Edward Island.

Being a politician sometimes can be thankless as Brown recently found out.

A while back Brown was accused of buying votes by a constituent who claimed he tried to buy his support.

"Personally, I have no idea and I thought about it a lot, I was trying to better different workers situations, I tried to rationalize in my mind," says Brown. "From my point of view he should have realized I was genuinely trying to be helpful. I think he got caught up in the event, and he was interviewed by Compass, and encouraged by others."

Brown says this was a tense time for his family. "It was a stressful period. When untrue accusations are made to challenge them, you highlight the situation rather than correct it. To try and correct things brings more attention. You accept things like this, they are part of politics.

"I knew what the outcome would be. You are always somewhat concerned about the whole situation. The community support was great."

This type of thing is quite common in politics, says Brown. "You have to realize it might be there, it's not something you look forward too. It may keep good people from getting involved in politics."

When asked if he feels the accuser was pushed to make these accusations Brown says, "I don't think in the beginning. I just think he might have been encouraged by other people."

"I guess in some ways, people were not consciously encouraging him."

Brown says being an MLA has been rewarding for the most part. "It's a challenge to represent such a large district because of the many communities."

He called the first few months a learning experience until he had a better understanding on how government works.

Brown says being an MLA is not difficult, but you put pressure on yourself. He says he felt he should try to fulfill the expectations of the people. "I don't feel as effective as I should be, but I will improve as I learn to understand government better."

Brown has always been involved with his community and this helped him decide to get into politics.

"I've always been involved in my community and I've always had an interests in politics. When you put those two together, you can have a positive affect on your community.