Liberals file complaint with Elections Ontario after Doug Ford improperly attended Scarborough fundraiser

The party will be filing an infraction with Elections Ontario, as well, according to Lantsman.

Ontario's Election Finances Act bars MPPsandcandidates who have secured a nomination and party leaders from attending fundraisersduring campaigns.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, attendees paid$250 a plate and $2,000 a piece for a seat at the head table for the opportunityto meet Ford.

During campaign stop at a Cambridge pizzeria, Ford told reporters that he goes to hundreds of events and that he was "very clearly misinformed" bySuppiramaniamabout this one.

"The person who put on the event was immediately dismissed and walked out of the office and we have an internal investigation. I take Elections Ontario very seriously, the rules," he said.

Political opponents weigh-in

On Thursday morning, NDP Leader Andrea Horwathsaid it was "surprising" that Ford participated in the dinner.

"It's pretty shocking that anybody would flout the rules so blatantly as Mr. Ford did," she said.

"Look, this is a party that was pretty visceral on their attack on the Liberal cash-for-access of fundraisers, and rightfully so."

At her own campaign event in Ottawa, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne called the revelation about Ford's participation in the event "disturbing" and said Ford will have to answer tough questions about how it happened at all.

"There's a law in this province about candidates attending fundraisers in this province. We all know about that law," Wynnesaid.

Candidate resigns after data theft probe

It's been a difficult 24 hours for the Tory leader. Earlier on Wednesday thePC candidate in Brampton East,Simmer Sandhu, abruptly quit after his one-time employer,407ETR, announced it was investigatingan "inside theft of data"that affected 60,000 customers.

Sandhuworked nine years at the company that owns and operates the toll highway through the GTA. While the company did not specify who was being investigated, Sandhu released a statement calling any allegations against him "totally baseless."

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The NDP hascalled for the province's chief electoral officer to formally investigate if the data breach was used for political gain by PC candidates and operators.

"We are profoundly troubled by these allegations.Ontariansexpect more of political candidates and political parties," said Karla Webber-Gallagher, provincial secretary for theNDP, in a statement that includes 10 questions theNDPwant answered by the probe.

"As there are fewer than 21 days left in the Ontario election and as advanced voting begins next week, time is of the essence."

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