PCs apologize for fake ‘invoices’

Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have apologized for mailing out fake “invoices” soliciting cash from past donors after a firestorm of controversy.

“At no time was it our intention to mislead our valued supporters,” the Tories said in a statement Thursday after refusing comment on the issue for more than 24 hours.

“We regret that this correspondence was sent to a limited group of supporters by one of our vendors and will not happen again. We apologize for any confusion or frustration this may have caused,” the party said.

It is unclear how many donors received the letter via Canada Post and how much money it brought in.

The request for payment for the Tories’ “election readiness fund” was accompanied by a two-page fundraising letter signed by Tony Miele, chair of the PC Ontario Fund.

It was designed to look like an overdue bill, which sparked outrage from previous Tory donors.

“I didn’t know what it was for,” a senior citizen, who asked that his name not be used, told the Star after receiving an invoice for $2,100 in the mail Wednesday.

That’s the amount he had donated to the party in the past.

“I was shocked,” the man said, echoing the concerns of Tory riding association executives who complained to the party about the tactic.

The blue-and-white invoice warned recipients there was a “balance due … please respond today.”

In Miele’s letter to contributors, he urged them to fork over cash “to send Doug Ford the clear message that we’ve got his back.”

The opposition New Democrats and Liberals have complained to Elections Ontario and would like to see a police investigation.

New Democrat MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the Tories must reveal their ties to Responsive Marketing Group, the vendor that prepared the invoice.

That firm, which was linked to the 2011federal “robocall” debacle, has been paid at least $1.7 million by the governing party over the past two years.