Patrick Brown's sister Stephanie took to Facebook to defend her brother against sexual misconduct allegations.

"These completely false allegations were 100% politically motivated and nothing more than a political hit," she wrote on the social networking site.

"Those who know me would characterize me as a strong feminist but making false allegations does not help the feminist cause. Applauding accusers who remain nameless ghosts to bolster political capitol (sic)- pathetic."

During his impromptu Wednesday night press conference, the former PC leader cited his love for his sisters as a reason why the allegations could not be true. Brown has denied all of the allegations that were detailed in a story first reported by CTV on Wednesday night. He resigned as PC leader in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The NDP nominee for Thunder Bay–Atikokan, former MP John Rafferty, has pulled out of the race due to health reasons. The former radio broadcaster served in Parliament from 2008–15, representing Thunder Bay–Rainy River. Prior to federal politics, he had run provincially in 2007, and lost to Liberal MPP Bill Mauro by a scant 36 votes.

A new NDP nomination contest will be held at a later date.

The premier's next town hall is set for Thunder Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The government events are free and open to the public. The Thunder Bay event follows similar town halls that took place in Toronto, Brampton and Ottawa.

Some of those events became testy, with a member of the anti-Wynne online group Ontario Proud asking a question in Toronto, and accusations in Ottawa that the province is turning into "Soviet Russia." TVO's Steve Paikin has criticized the lack of civility at such events and called on attendees to be less "nasty."

The event will take place at the Italian Cultural Centre at 132 Algoma St. S. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the event will take begin at 6 p.m. Patricia Lang, the former

Barry Sherman and Honey Sherman were targeted in a double murder, Toronto police said in a press conference Friday afternoon. Police also said they do not have any suspects at this time but have interviewed 120 people.

The Shermans were one of Canada's wealthiest couples, with a net worth of $4.77 billion, according to Canadian Business. Barry Sherman was the founder of generic drug manufacturer Apotex. The company, a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, employs more than 10,000 people.

Earlier reports that relied on police sources stated that the December deaths may have been a murder-suicide, a theory that was strongly disputed by the family.

Also on Friday, Apotex CEO Jeremy Desai resigned, effective immediately. Desai is facing allegations that he received trade secrets from a senior executive of an Israel-based company

The office of Health Minister Eric Hoskins, who called Barry and Honey Sherman "dear friends" following their deaths in December, declined to comment on either development.

The Ontario College of Teachers announced its support for the Ministry of Education's proposed changes to the Ontario College of Teachers Act. The proposed change would alter the definition of sexual abuse, and bring it into alignment with the Regulated Health Professions Act. The existing legislation allowed teachers who had been convicted of some kinds of sexual abuse to keep their licence and continue on the job, as the Toronto Star reported earlier.

Health Quality Ontario reports that the number of Ontarians prescribed opioids by a medical professional declined by 2 per cent from 2013 to 2016. But the provincial adviser on health-care quality warned that the rate of the decrease isn't sufficient to match countries with lower opioid use in the near future.

"At current rates of decrease, it would take Ontario more than a decade to reach the same prescribed opioid consumption rates as other economically similar countries such as Australia and the U.K.," Dr. Joshua Tepper, the president and CEO of Health Quality Ontario, wrote in a statement.

While opioid prescriptions can help mitigate chronic pain, they can sometimes lead to addiction, studies show.

In Brief: Patrick Brown’s sister defends her brother, NDP nominee withdraws for health reasons, and the Ontario College of Teachers backs reform

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