The campaign to lead the province of Ontario brought Doug Ford to Muskoka region on Saturday.

Ford made stops in Baysville and Huntsville to endear himself to the growing craft beer industry, while shaking hands and sampling suds.

His visit to the region comes on the heels of an election promise he made yesterday, to bring more wine, beer, coolers and ciders to grocery and corner stores if he forms government on June 7th.

“I want to level the playing field and give consumers more choice. This is about making life a bit more convenient for you,” Ford told a crowd at the Lake of Bays Brewing Company.

It’s encouraging news for local brewers, who want more freedom in the market.

“We’re just in the process of opening a second location now. There’s a limit right now that says you can only have two of those in the entire province from a retailing perspective,” says Darren Smith from Lake of Bays Brewing Company.

Ford then addressed a major political controversy, which has been haunting him on the campaign trail. It’s the apparent theft of the personal information of 60,000 highway 407 customers. The Liberals say this information was used by members of the Progressive Conservative Party, and prompted the resignation of a PC candidate in Brampton, who previously worked at the 407.

“This goes back to Patrick Brown. You want to get answers on this, Patrick Brown was the leader under this whole group of people. Any time I’ve heard any issues, I’ve acted immediately,” says Ford.

Deb Matthews, the campaign co-chair for the Ontario Liberal Party, held an impromptu press conference to reiterate her party’s concerns.

“We have never seen anything close to this in any election in anyone’s memory, so this is a very serious allegation. He’s trying to sweep it under the carpet. He’s trying to say it was one riding, and I dealt with it. It was not one riding, and he has not dealt with it,” Matthews says.

The Liberals are asking Ford to contact the Ontario Provincial Police to conduct a province-wide investigation.

From Baysville, Ford then travelled to Huntsville to drum up support for his alcohol plan at the town’s craft beer festival.

“They are economic drivers for our small towns. These breweries are bringing people. It’s a different kind of beer, it’s a different kind of brewery, and it’s really attracting people that want different flavours,” says Muskoka 2/4 Craft Beer Festival organizer, Helena Renwick.

Ontario voters will go to the polls in 19 days.