PCs say party got no money from 'fundraiser' that Doug Ford attended
Progressive Conservative party lawyer rejects report that Ford breached campaign finance law
The Ontario Progressive Conservatives are denying that the party received any donations from an event that Doug Ford attended in Scarborough last month in an alleged breach of provincial campaign laws.
In a letter obtained by CBC News, a PC party lawyer tells Ontario's chief electoral officer the party has found "no evidence of any fundraising contribution or donation ever being received" related to the April 29 event.
The PC party has also not found "any printed or published information regarding the April 29 event that explicitly or implicitly identified it as a fundraising event," writes lawyer Arthur Hamilton in the letter.
It is illegal for provincial candidates and leaders to attend party fundraising events in person, under Ontario's strict new campaign finance laws.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Ford said he spent about an hour at the event and repeated that he was "misinformed" about it by the organizer. The PC party has fired the organizer, but has not named him.
"Any money that was raised will be given back to the donors," Ford said at a campaign stop in London.
"I go to hundreds of events and I'm very clear when I go there that they're meet-and-greets," said Ford. "We're doing an internal investigation. We're putting proper protocol in place to make sure that never happens again."
The Ontario Liberal Party has filed a formal complaint with the independent elections watchdog, asking it to investigate.