The Ontario Provincial Police has agreed to Chief Bill Blair's request for them to assume an oversight role in Project Brazen 2 -- the investigation that involves Mayor Rob Ford and his friend Alexander "Sandro" Lisi.

Blair released a letter he wrote to OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis Wednesday afternoon.

In it he says, "I am taking this step to avoid the distractions that have assumed such recent prominence. The only public interest here is the continued investigation, without fear or favour, into evidence of possible criminality."

OPP will assume the role effective immediately. It does not mean that provincial police have overtaken the investigation but rather that they are overseeing the process which is still being handled by Toronto police.

Blair has refused to comment further on the situation, but Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash confirmed the investigation remains under the control of Toronto police Sgt. Gary Giroux.

"Gary Giroux determines the pace and the way the investigation continues," he said. "Giroux had people overseeing him, people he could go to if he had any questions, but those people that oversaw him in Toronto have been removed from the equation."

Giroux will now report to the OPP, Pugash said. Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas -- who led the investigation into the convicted murderer Russell Williams -- will oversee the investigation, OPP confirm.

Pugash said the move was nothing more than the police doing what they can to "avoid distractions."

"There have been quite vocal, personal attacks and other distractions," Pugash said. "We wanted to take steps to avoid distractions. We wanted to take action on any impact or potential impact on court proceedings so that any investigation before the courts or that could be before the courts would not be subject to these kinds of distractions."

Mayor dismisses change in supervision

The mayor and his brother, colleague and campaign manager Coun. Doug Ford have publicly said in the past that they believe Blair has acted inappropriately by making public comments about the investigation. Coun. Ford has demanded Blair step down from the investigation in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

On Wednesday the mayor dismissed the change in supervision, saying, "The damage has already been done." 

"The chief is obviously just playing political games," he added. "This should have been done from the start."

He then repeated his call for police to publicly disclose how much money has been spent on the investigation.

"I want to know how much money they've spent on surveilling me," he said. "I want that to come out because it's a waste of taxpayer money."

When he was asked if he's concerned about facing criminal charges, Ford laughed.

"Charged for what? Charged for what?" he repeated. "An empty vodka bottle or urinating in a park? Which one, I'm not quite sure."

When a reporter noted that the surveillance caught Ford meeting with a convicted drug dealer several times, Ford ignored the comment and looked around, asking the media, "Anything else?"

'Good move'

Meanwhile, OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis spoke out about the move,  saying that while he had confidence in Blair's ability to oversee the project without bias, ultimately the chief made the right decision about easing any potential public concern.

"The chief said he wants the public to be confident," he said. "I think it was a good move. I didn't hesitate to say 'yeah, we'll do it.' It makes all the sense in the world to me if it builds perspective."

The Project Brazen 2 task force was formed after police infiltrated a gang known as the Dixon Bloods or Dixon Goonies, believed to have been a source of gun and drug trafficking in the city. The year-long investigation was known as Project Traveller.

While listening to wiretaps, investigators uncovered a plot to sell a video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine. The video was reported in the media back in May, 2013 but its existence was only confirmed on Oct. 31 after Blair held a press conference to announce that police were in possession of a digital file of the video.

He also used the opportunity to announce charges had been laid against Lisi for allegedly attempting to retrieve the video through unfavourable means.

Ford has since admitted to smoking crack cocaine "in a drunken stupor." Since then, the mayor has been spotted with Lisi. They were videotaped together at the Steak Queen restaurant in January. That same night a video was taken of the mayor speaking in Jamaican Patois mocking the police for their investigation and referring to Blair as a "----sucker."

The mayor later said he was drinking the night the video was taken.

Project Brazen 2 ongoing

Ford's colleagues on council were quick to comment about the new development in the case, once again expressing concern about the seriousness of the allegations.

"The work is getting closer to the mayor's office," said Coun. Adam Vaughan. "Today's development suggests (the investigation) is getting more and more serious."

Meanwhile, lawyers representing Toronto media have been in court this week in pursuit of information contained in search warrants that were carried out in relation to Project Brazen 2. The information could come out later this month.

Pugash said the investigation is ongoing but would not say if there have been any major developments.

"We don’t discuss ongoing criminal investigations and if there is more information, I'm sure the OPP will release that information," he told CP24.

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