CHATHAM, Ont. - There's no reason why Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino should step aside while the courts probe allegations that he threatened municipal officials, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
McGuinty downplayed the allegations, saying he didn't think Fantino should take a leave from his duties while the case progresses.
"My understanding is that it's a private information being put forward by a private citizen, it's going to work its way through the courts and I'll allow that to take its normal course," McGuinty said.
The province's top cop is set to appear in court Friday on one count of influencing or attempting to influence municipal officials -- a legal step required before charges could be officially laid and court dates set.
He has vowed to fight an allegation from an activist that he illegally influenced elected officials in Caledonia, Ont., the site of a long-running aboriginal occupation.
Activist Gary McHale has been trying to have Fantino charged after the commissioner allegedly sent an email in 2007 telling the mayor and councillors in Caledonia not to attend McHale's rallies.
McHale led a number of rallies to protest what he called two-tier justice in the policing of the land occupation in the town south of Hamilton.
Fantino has vowed to "vigorously" defend himself and the provincial police force against the allegations, and has stood by police efforts to keep the peace and protect the public in Caledonia during the land claims dispute.
Influencing or attempting to influence municipal officials is a Criminal Code offence that carries up to a five-year prison term.
NDP critic Peter Kormos chastised the premier for his comments, saying he's "absolutely wrong to trivialize this charge."
"Although privately laid information, it's been approved by a judicial official," said Kormos.
"It's a very serious matter. It may or may not result in a conviction -- that's for the courts to determine. But at the end of the day Fantino has been an embarrassment as the top cop in the province of Ontario."
Kormos said Fantino, who has been entangled in controversial legal disputes in the past, has become a liability.
"If Mr. Fantino wants to be a lawmaker, (he can) run for provincial or federal parliament," said Kormos.
"His job is to be an enforcer of the law, and that means he is to enforce the law as it is written, and not to use his clout -- real or imaginary -- to bully politicians into passing legislation that serves his personal interests."
McGuinty also brushed aside questions Tuesday about why it took so long to settle a suit with a local family that sued the Ontario Provincial Police and the provincial government over the handling of the aboriginal occupation of a housing development in Caledonia.
David Brown, his wife Dana Chatwell and their son Dax had filed a $7-million lawsuit, claiming they lived under siege and were abandoned to a state of lawlessness after aboriginal protesters occupied the Douglas Creek Estates housing development in February 2006.
The terms of the settlement reached late last month were confidential, with no admission of liability by any of the defendants.
"I think there were discussions, negotiations that took place for an extended period of time," McGuinty said.
"There's been a settlement now, which I have no reason to believe is not to the full satisfaction of the individuals who were involved in this and I'm happy that we've come to a resolution that they find acceptable."
The premier sidestepped questions about whether the family -- who spent weeks in what they described as "total panic mode" -- was owed an apology by the province.
"It's a very difficult circumstance there and we're doing everything we can to maintain some order and some goodwill in the face of circumstances, divisions, which arose before Confederation," McGuinty said.
"We'll do everything that we can from a provincial perspective to bring the sides together, but at the end of the day it's up the feds to formally resolve this."
