TORONTO — A Crown attorney has withdrawn a criminal charge recently laid against Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino.

Milan Rupic, chief counsel of the Justice Prosecutions Unit, said Wednesday there were no reasonable grounds for conviction during a hearing in a Cayuga, Ont., courtroom.

"In all criminal prosecutions, the Crown is required to review each case to determine whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction," Rupic said, reading from a prepared statement. "If that test is not met, the Crown is duty bound to withdraw the charge."

Fantino expressed satisfaction with the charge's withdrawal.

"As previously stated, I have the utmost respect for and confidence in the judicial system and am content that this vexatious allegation was dealt with in a just and appropriate manner," Fantino said in a statement released Wednesday.

"I remain proud of the difficult work done by the OPP over the last several years in Caledonia, Ont. Our efforts have resulted in a relative calm and minimized potential violence. The results speak for themselves."

Fantino had faced a charge of attempting to influence municipal officials in relation to a complaint brought by Gary McHale, a private citizen who has long been an outspoken critic of Fantino over his handling of aboriginal protests in Caledonia, about 110 kilometres southwest of Toronto.

The charge are related to a 2007 e-mail Fantino sent to the Mayor of Caledonia responding to complaints from municipal politicians about so-called two-tiered policing during the standoff with native protesters.

In the e-mail, Fantino pledged to recommend the OPP policing contract with Haldimand County "not be renewed" if it continued to support McHale.

The e-mail went on to say that in the event police officers were injured in the course of future protests instigated by McHale, Fantino would send a bill to Halidimand County for the costs of policing, the court heard Wednesday.

Rupic went on to say he is satisfied Fantino's remark about the billing "does not and cannot constitute an offence" under the Criminal Code.

"I say that because it is not an offence if you tell someone that you might send them a bill for services. If a person gets a bill and they do not agree with it, it can become the subject of a complaint or a civil dispute, but that does not make it the proper subject of a criminal proceeding."