Massage 'clinic' didn't raise suspicions: Layton

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NDP Leader Jack Layton says he never would have gone for a massage at a "community clinic" in his Toronto neighbourhood in 1996 had he known police suspected it was a bawdy house.

Layton's comments come a day after Sun Media reported the NDP leader was interviewed by police 16 years ago at a massage parlour while a city councillor.

Both Layton and his wife, NDP candidate Olivia Chow, insisted Friday there was no wrongdoing in the visit to clinic, which Chow said was registered with the city of Toronto.

The NDP leader, responding to reporters' questions, said he went to the clinic around 9 p.m., recalling that it was probably after a workout.

"I went for a massage at a community clinic," Layton told reporters after a rally in Burnaby, B.C. "The police advised it wasn't the greatest place to be, so I left and I never went back."

Layton made the comments after telling supporters not to be deterred by "attacks and you name it" from his political opponents as polls suggest the NDP is in second place and within striking distance of defeating Stephen Harper's Conservatives.

Asked Saturday whether the place looked "sketchy," Layton said: "Not at all. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gone in."

He again dismissed the story as "innuendo" and "smear politics" just days before Monday's election.

"I have seen this kind of thing before," he said."I don't think Canadians appreciate It. I think what they want us to do is focus on the issues," he said.

Layton was never arrested or charged in relation to the police interview.

Meanwhile, CBC News has learned that the Toronto Police have asked the Ontario Provincial Police to conduct a criminal breach of trust investigation into the leak of official police notes cited in the Sun Media report about Layton.

Police notebooks are supposed to be closely guarded internal police property, as they contain sensitive investigative notes, officers' impressions and often unproven and untested suspicions.

On Friday, Chow released a statement, saying that she was aware her husband went for a massage and was interviewed by police.

"I knew about this appointment, as I always do. No one was more surprised than my husband when the police informed him of allegations of potential wrong doing at this establishment," Chow said

"He told me about the incident after it happened. Any insinuation of wrongdoing on the part of my husband is completely and utterly false."

A letter from Layton's lawyer also denied any wrongdoing from their client and that Layton "had no knowledge whatsoever that the therapist’s location may have been used for illicit purposes," Brian Iler wrote in a statement.

When asked Saturday whether he would take legal action against Sun Media for the story, Layton said he would "deal with all that" after the election.

Both Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff declined to comment when asked about the story in separate interviews on Saturday.

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