Water flows downhill and politicians engage in politics ahead of byelections.

On Wednesday, Deb Matthews, minister of advanced education and skills development, held a media scrum in the park behind the legislature to cast doubt on P.C. Leader Patrick Brown's explanation of the events surrounding the sex-ed letter than went out to voters in Scarborough-Rouge River.

"His stories just don't add up," said Matthews, challenging Brown's assertion that the letter was sent out by local campaign team members. "There's a problem with that assertion, because the letter clearly states it was authorized by the CFO of the Ontario PC Party, it did not say it was authorized by the CFO of the Raymond Cho campaign."

Matthews suggested Brown was either "misleading" reporters or "covering up" for someone who may have violated the Ontario Elections Act by saying it was authorized by the party's CFO when it wasn't.

"The other troubling issue is timing," she said. "Patrick Brown blamed the delay in his response on the fact that he was in Northern Ontario at the time. They do have cellphones in Northern Ontario, they do have Internet access in Northern Ontario and, the day the story broke, he was tweeting from Tamilfest in Scarborough-Rouge River."

Enjoyed speaking at Tamil Fest in Scarborough with @RaymondChoPC to celebrate the Tamil culture & history. #onpoli pic.twitter.com/07uoyWk6Cy

— Patrick Brown (@brownbarrie) August 27, 2016

"Why would you wait four days to correct it? Why wouldn't you own the mistake immediately?" Matthews added. "This is particularly concerning because that period overlaps with the advance polls, so people were going to the advance polls with misinformation."

She also accused Brown of sending out the original letter in Chinese but failing to correct it in the same language. However, Brown told QP Briefing his apology media tour included Chinese news outlets, such as Fairchild TV.

Matthews' comments echoed those distributed to the press gallery by Liberal Caucus Services earlier in the day.

Asked whether she would rather have voters thinking and talking about the sex-ed letter than recent criticisms of the Liberal government over fundraising issues, Matthews said "voters will make their decision based on a number of factors."

Shortly after Matthews' scrum, Caucus Services distributed a breakdown of an interview Cho did yesterday with Zoomer Radio, in which he said he didn't write "Patrick Brown's letter" — and all questions should be directed to Brown.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives sent out a media release that appears to lower expectations. Titled Scarborough-Rouge River is Wynne’s to Lose, the release points out the riding has gone Liberal in every election since it was created in 1999.

Liberals poke at holes in Patrick Brown’s sex-ed letter explanation

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