Rob Ford’s bid to remain mayor of Toronto seems to know no geographic boundaries as citizens who live outside the GTA — even as far away as Vancouver — report receiving unsolicited emails seeking campaign donations.

Adam Mallonee, a Vancouver resident, says he found it “odd” when he received an email Friday from the Rob Ford re-election campaign.

“I did not give express consent to his campaign or anyone else to use my email address for unsolicited communications, especially ones where they ask for money,” said Mallonee, who moved to Vancouver from Toronto two years ago. “It would be advisable for those seeking campaign donations to ask people who actually live in the city where the election is taking place and who are able to vote.”

Mallonee, 38, once emailed the mayor’s office two years ago asking Ford to resign and says he believes his email address was added to the re-election campaign’s list of supporters.

On Saturday, the Star reported on the concerns Toronto residents were raising after receiving unsolicited emails signed by the mayor’s brother and campaign manager, Doug Ford, asking for donations in exchange for a variety of Ford Nation merchandise, such as flags, bumper stickers and T-shirts.

Since then, more than two dozen citizens, including residents of Burlington, Oakville and Renfrew, have contacted the Star to report receiving the email. Most wonder how the campaign got their email addresses, none more so than those who don’t live in Toronto.

Port Hope resident Beth Hanson said she has received several emails from the Rob Ford re-election campaign despite not having lived in Toronto for the past 10 years and never having emailed the mayor’s office.

“I have no idea how the Ford campaign got my email. I had received one several months ago, before the rehab spectacle, and had unsubscribed, so I thought,” Hanson told the Star. When she received the latest email, she says her reaction was “anger, then a feeling of invasion and thinking it was very presumptuous to say in the body of the email I was aligned with the campaign somehow.”

“I have never given my name and have never had a relationship with the Fords or Toronto city hall for that matter,” said retired senior and 40-year Oakville resident Mariam Rossignol, who received the email on Friday. “Where did the Fords get my email address from?”

The email begins with the phrase “Hello Friend” and goes on to say that the campaign would not be possible “without your financial contributions.” The letter also states “you are receiving this email because of your relationship with the Rob Ford campaign.”

Neither Doug Ford nor campaign spokesperson Jeff Silverstein responded to the Star’s inquiries Sunday. Doug Ford told the Star earlier that he was “not too sure” where the campaign got the email addresses of the letter’s recipients, and said anyone unhappy with getting the email should unsubscribe.

This isn’t the first time Rob Ford has looked beyond the 416 area code for support. In September of last year, Vaughan and Mississauga residents were the recipients of robocalls from the mayor inviting them to attend the Ford Fest barbecue at Etobicoke’s Centennial Park.

The Star also heard from one voter who reported receiving an unsolicited email from the Olivia Chow mayoral campaign.

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Chow spokesperson Jamey Heath told the Star the campaign used lists of email addresses “from a variety of sources” early in the campaign and built its own through the campaign website.

In July, new federal anti-spam legislation came into effect requiring businesses to obtain consent from potential customers before sending “commercial electronic messages.” The legislation does not apply to emails soliciting contributions on behalf of someone running for publicly elected office.

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