CAMBRIDGE, ONT. —Doug Ford’s rivals are calling on Elections Ontario to investigate his illegal appearance at a Progressive Conservative fundraiser and to determine if allegedly stolen personal data on Hwy. 407 customers was used by the party or its candidates for political advantage.

In separate letters to Elections Ontario chief Greg Essensa on Thursday, the Liberals flagged concerns about a $250-a-plate dinner for the PCs on April 29 and the New Democrats raised the data theft, saying “time is of the essence” with the June 7 election only three weeks away.

The moves came after the Star broke the story on Ford’s attendance at the fundraiser in violation of campaign financing laws, and after Brampton East PC candidate Simmer Sandhu suddenly quit on Wednesday. Sandhu’s former employer, 407 ETR, revealed it was investigating the “inside theft” of names, addresses and phone numbers on 60,000 users of the toll highway.

Sandhu, who has not been charged with any offences, called any allegations against him “anonymous” and “totally baseless.”

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne urged Ford to clear the air and call in police if need be.

“If we’re to believe the situation, it’s very disturbing,” she said at St. Lawrence College in Kingston.

“Doug Ford’s aspiring to lead the province and I actually think there’s only one course, and that’s complete transparency and honesty,” the Liberal leader said. “I think he needs to bring in the police and I think he needs to share everything that’s known, open up every corner of the campaign to examination and then to offer a complete public accounting.”

Ford, the front-runner in public opinion polls, acknowledged his appearance at the Toronto fundraiser was a mistake and said he hasn’t seen “any evidence of wrongdoing” by his party with any personal data on Hwy. 407 drivers.

“It is impossible for us to comment on allegations if we have not seen the evidence,” he wrote in a tweet after taking questions from reporters at a pizza shop in the Liberal-held riding of Cambridge.

Ford said he “immediately” accepted Sandhu’s resignation, adding “our party is looking into this.”

Party officials said any problems may date to the era of Patrick Brown, ousted as leader in January following allegations of sexual impropriety that he denies.

On the fundraiser, Ford said, “I was very clearly misinformed” as to the nature of the event, adding that donors will have their contributions returned and that the organizer of the evening has been fired.

“I go to hundreds of events,” he said at the pizza shop, where questions about the controversies overshadowed his promise of an 8.7 per cent small business tax cut.

“We have a better protocol in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” the businessman and former Toronto city councillor said. “I take Elections Ontario very seriously.”

Elections Ontario said in a statement it does not comment on whether it is conducting investigations.

“When Elections Ontario receives a complaint about a violation of the Election Act or Election Finances Act, the complaint is reviewed and may be investigated.”

In a two-page letter to the election agency about the fundraiser, Liberal party lawyer Jack Siegel wrote: “It seems hard to comprehend how such an individual (Ford) could fail to recognize a fundraising event for what it was.”

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Given that the Star story revealed head table guests paid $2,000 for their seats, there appear to be other campaign finance violations, because the limit on contributions is $1,222 per person, Siegel added.

Under the Election Finances Act that took effect Jan. 1, 2017, after reforms prompted by a Star series, it is illegal for MPPs, cabinet ministers, nominated candidates or party leaders to attend fundraisers.

Penalties are a maximum of $5,000 for individuals and up to $50,000 for corporations or unions.

With files from Kristin Rushowy

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