Andrew Furey has apologized after his campaign team reached out to Liberal members inviting them to a “special announcement” tomorrow evening.

Furey is expected to announce his candidacy for the Liberal Party leadership at that time.

The controversy is surrounding allegations that Furey’s campaign workers were given access to voter information on the party’s master contact list.

I’m so grateful for the people, friends and family who have come forward to support our family’s decision at the 11th hour. We have had a lot to consider and pull together over the weekend. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was inconvenienced by the invitation email.

— Andrew Furey (@FureyAndrew) March 2, 2020

Both Furey’s campaign team and officials within the Liberal Party deny having or providing access to the list.

In a post to social media this afternoon, Furey says he sincerely apologizes to anyone inconvenienced by the invitation email.

He offers to remove anyone from the email list who notifies his team.

One Recipient ‘Disappointed’ By Email

Meanwhile, at least one recipient of Dr. Furey’s email tells VOCM News they are disappointed.

In an email, the recipient says they did not ask to be added to the mailing list and are not privy to anyone involved in Furey’s campaign or social circle.

They say when they received the email they were surprised and had to select “Why did I receive this email” from the original in order to find out.

They were told they must have requested one. However, they say with full certainly that they did not choose to be added to the list.

The recipient says they were also disappointed by not having their name removed or unsubscribed from the Liberal List after requesting it.

Earlier Story

Officials with the Liberal Party are denying allegations that Dr. Andrew Furey’s campaign workers were given access to voter information on the party’s master contact list. Furey’s campaign team also says they did not have access to the list.

Over the weekend, people received an email from Furey inviting them to a “special announcement on Tuesday evening at the Alt Hotel in St. John’s. That’s when Furey will announce he is going to seek the Liberal leadership.

Some suggested Furey must have had access to the names and contact information from what’s known as the ‘Liberal List,’ and that if true, it was a breach of privacy. The party says no such thing happened.

In a statement to VOCM News, the Liberal Party of NL said, “There was no unauthorized access or exporting of the Liberal Party of NL’s global list of members/supporters.”

Michael King, the Executive Director of the provincial Liberal Party says, “Information of this kind is not available to campaigns until after a candidate has been approved in accordance with the rules.”

Campaign Manager Responds

VOCM News also reached out to organizers with Dr. Andrew Furey’s campaign. His manager, John Hogan, released a statement, which said, “With the help of volunteer information, publicly available information, social media, etc., the campaign team established a mail out list to invite people to Dr. Furey’s announcement.”

Hogan went on to say, “People on the campaign team have a lot of contacts which were used to invite and engage people.” He says anyone who does not want to be contacted can ask to be removed from email lists.

Abbott Not Made Privy

John Abbott, who plans to formally announce his intention to run in the coming days, says he was not made privy to a Liberal Party members list. Abbott says his team will investigate the situation before making further comment.

Potential candidates have until Friday to enter the race. The new leaders will be chosen at a convention on May 8.