The Ontario Provincial Police have launched a criminal investigation into the leak of Toronto police information about a visit by NDP leader Jack Layton to a massage clinic in 1996.
Toronto police chief Bill Blair asked the OPP Saturday to investigate any possible breach-of-trust regarding the disclosure of information, said OPP inspector Dave Ross.
In a story that appeared Friday, an anonymous retired Toronto police officer told Sun Media that he and a partner found Layton in a massage parlour, a suspected Chinatown bawdy house, fifteen years ago when he was a Toronto council member. No charges were laid.
The NDP leader has denied any wrongdoing and called the report a “smear campaign.” The report came as the NDP surged in election polls.
The story relied on apparent excerpts from the former officer’s notebook.
An officer’s notes belong to the police department and not to the officer, explained Staff Sgt. Mike Ervick, of Toronto police. When a notebook is complete, the police officer is required to turn it in.
OPP inspector Ross would not comment on what criminal offence may have been committed. “Let the investigation run its course,” he said. Ross added that it’s not unusual for a police force to ask another police body to conduct an investigation.
The Dundas St. W. address identified as the massage parlour by Sun Media is a narrow brick building located a few blocks west of Bathurst St.
The entrance to the building is gated and locked, its windows are dark and all signage has been removed. Neighbours said a large sign that once advertised “massage” was taken down years ago.
On the campaign trail in Burnaby, B.C., Layton told reporters Saturday he had no idea how the story came about. “I do know that this is the kind of politics that Canadians don’t appreciate … They want politics that focuses on the issues that matter to them day to day. And that is exactly what we’re doing on our campaign.”
He repeated his assertion that he did nothing wrong. He said he went for a massage at a community clinic around 9 p.m. after a workout, and that it was his first visit to that clinic.
“The police advised that it wasn’t the greatest place to be. I left and I never went back,” he said.
When asked if the place looked sketchy to him, Layton replied, “Not at all. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gone in.”
The NDP’s lawyer, Brian Iler, wrote a letter to Sun News before the story appeared. “The facts are that Mr. Layton had obtained a massage from a massage therapist, but had no knowledge whatsoever that the therapist’s location may have been used for illicit purposes,” wrote Iler.
Iler warned against publishing anything that would insinuate wrongdoing.
Layton said he didn’t expect anything to happen on the legal front right now. “We’ll deal with all that after the action,” said the NDP leader.