Finance Minister Ralph Goodale says he is not going to bow to political pressure and step aside while the RCMP conducts a criminal investigation into a possible leak of information from his department.

Goodale made the comments in an interview Wednesday night on CBC's The National.

"The RCMP said in their statement of this afternoon that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing on my part, or on the part of anyone else for that matter," Goodale told the CBC's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge.

Finance Minister Ralph Goodale appearing on The National
Finance Minister Ralph Goodale appearing on The National

"They are examining this situation because of the seriousness of the allegations."

Goodale emphasized that the allegations have not been proven.

"This is not an allegation of jaywalking; it's an allegation of something much more serious than that," he said, "but it is just that - it is an allegation.

"It is not by any means proven and I know I've examined my own conduct in this matter and I'm confident that conduct is consistent with 30 years of integrity and trust in public life."

Questioned repeatedly about why he won't step aside until the investigation is complete, Goodale said RCMP officials aren't at the root of the allegations. "The opposition have made those allegations."

The RCMP, he added, "have said they are looking into this matter because of the seriousness of the allegation.

"They have, at the same time, said they have no information, no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of anyone - most particularly on my part - and quite frankly if I were to resign under those circumstances, I believe I would only feed allegations that are out there in the context of a very political situation."

On Nov. 23, the federal government announced just before 6 p.m. EST it would cut the tax on corporate dividends and would make no changes to the tax on income trusts. It's news that is always announced after stock markets close at 4 p.m. EST because it would give a boost to those types of securities.

But since then, there have been allegations that information about the changes was leaked early, allowing some in the know to profit from it. There was heavy trading in some stocks and trusts, as well as spikes in share prices just before the close of trading.

A letter that surfaced Wednesday from the RCMP's commissioner, Guiliano Zaccardelli, confirmed the force was launching a criminal investigation into the alleged information leak.