By Pepper Parr
August 20th, 2021
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
NDP leader Andrea Horwath told Premier in a brisk fashion to day that when you get caught with your hands in the cookie jar you let the cookies in your hand drop back into the jar.
A number of people received what was clearly marked as an invoice from the Progressive Conservative Party when they had not bought anything from them.
It became quickly evident that a fund raising organization came up with the idea of using an invoicing format to spur people into making a donation.
Crude but that has been an operational pattern for the PC party. There has never been a lot of class with that crowd.
NDP Consumer Protection critic Terence Kernaghan also called on Ford to return any money collected through his fake invoice scam, and quickly contact all recipients to let them know they don’t have to pay up.
“It would have been an upsetting shock for some folks to get a $300 or $1,000 official-looking invoice from the governing party. Some might have that fake invoice in their bills-to-be-paid pile, causing them stress and anxiety,” said Horwath. “People deserve so much more than a half-hearted apology, signed by no one.
“They deserve Doug Ford to come out of hiding. Apologize. Make it clear that there are consequences for the people who pulled this scam. And then urgently take steps to make it right — including returning any money collected.”
Kernaghan said everyone who received a fake invoice should get a phone call and follow-up letter, letting them know they don’t need to pay, adding that a large fundraising campaign is always approved at the highest level of the party. “Sorry isn’t enough. Consumers need to be protected, and that means ensuring there are consequences for the senior officials in Ford’s offices who signed off on this scheme.”
Andrea Horwath and the Official Opposition NDP have contacted the authorities, concerned that Ford or his team may have violated federal law. The Solicitations by Mail Regulations require anything that looks like an invoice, but isn’t, to carry a large warning on it notifying people they’re under “no obligation to make any payments.” Failing to do that may be an indictable offence.
