WOODSLEE, ONT. — As the New Democrats demanded Elections Ontario probe 12 Progressive Conservative nomination contests, Tory Leader Doug Ford signalled he is ready to remove more PC candidates if necessary.

“Once new revelations come to us, we sit down just like I did with the Brampton East candidate and we’ll address it,” Ford said Wednesday on a farm here in the NDP-held riding of Essex, near Windsor.

“We’ll address it immediately, and, as I said over and over again, we won’t tolerate anything along those lines as we did with the Brampton East candidate,” he said.

That was a reference to Simmer Sandhu, who resigned his candidacy one week ago after being linked to the alleged data breach at the 407 ETR toll highway, where personal information of 60,000 users was compromised.

York Regional Police’s major fraud squad is investigating that case as an “inside theft.”

Sandhu, a former 407 ETR employee, has denied any wrongdoing. He has not been charged with any offences and has called any allegations against him “anonymous” and “totally baseless.”

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“The election is too important to get caught up in the issues surrounding any one person,” he said May 16.

Sandhu was replaced by Sudeep Verma as the Conservative candidate in Brampton East.

Several Hwy. 407 users have contacted the Star to say they have received “robocalls” from the Conservatives canvassing them for support in the June 7 election.

“How did (they) get our phone numbers? The only common thread is that my sons and I have is that we all, at one time or another, have driven the 407,” said one motorist, who called to report unusual election-related phone calls to his family.

On the Ontario election campaign trail Wednesday, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford called the NDP “radicals,” while Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath charged the PC leader with being “disrespectful” of electors. (The Canadian Press)

Another man said he has received two robocalls from the Tories since Ford became leader on March 10.

“I live in northern Ontario and use the 407 very seldom. The last time was two years ago when we visited our daughter in Woodstock,” he said.

Ford has repeatedly blamed his predecessor, Patrick Brown, who resigned Jan. 25, for leaving him “a mess” of a party organization.

But, breaking his silence for the first time during this campaign, Brown countered that claim.

“When Doug Ford said that he inherited a mess as party leader, he is very much mistaken,” the former leader wrote in an opinion piece for the Star.

“He inherited a party with a 20-point lead in numerous public opinion polls, the largest membership in our party history, the most money ever in our coffers, a great slate of candidates and a policy platform that was the best received in modern memory for our party,” noted Brown.

“While our nominations certainly became controversial, this was a result of having more candidates interested in running for our party than ever before,” said Brown, who noted that the party retained auditors PwC to monitor nomination elections on his watch.

In a dozen separate letters sent to Elections Ontario on Wednesday, the NDP asked Ontario’s chief elections officer Greg Essensa to investigate the PC nominations in Brampton West; Brampton Centre; Brampton South; Burlington; Mississauga East-Cooksville; Mississauga-Streetsville; Mississauga-Lakeshore; Mississauga-Erin Mills; Oakville; Beaches-East York; Milton, and Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, which is already subject to a criminal fraud probe by Hamilton Police.

No allegations have been proven in court.

Snover Dhillon, the Tory power broker cited by the New Democrats in their letters of complaint, has told the Star he is being unfairly targeted.

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“I have done nothing wrong,” said Dhillon, who has twice been convicted of fraud.

A major PC organizer in the past three Ontario elections, he has met with Ford several times over years.

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne implored Ford to contact the police and clear the air.

“He must step forward. He must call for and participate in a full investigation both by the police and by Elections Ontario,” Wynne said in Sudbury.

“You know, he has said that this happened under the leadership of Patrick Brown. Well, if that’s the case, I don’t understand why he would then not want to have that investigation happen,” she said.

“We know that (Ford) said in February that there were 40 nominations that needed to be looked at. He needs to step up and be accountable for that investigation.”

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