OTTAWA - Helena Guergis may have nurtured the image of a straightlaced cabinet minister on Parliament Hill, but people who knew her in younger days paint a picture of a regular club-goer often seen on the arm of a hometown playboy.

It's similar to the picture being painted of Guergis by recent allegations that she and her husband Rahim Jaffer were photographed in a compromising situation with cocaine and hookers.

The allegations, and others related to offshore accounts, led to her expulsion from the the Conservative caucus as the Mounties were called in to investigate.

Much of the attention has been focused on Jaffer, a former MP who had a reputation as a bon vivant and was convicted of careless driving after an incident last September.

But Guergis, who often appeared around Ottawa with her hair in a bun and a crucifix on her necklace, was no wallflower either.

Sources say Guergis was in a serious relationship in the late '90s with a well-known playboy in Barrie, Ont., a promoter who was a fixture in the local party scene and later owned a popular local strip club.

A source who knew both Shane Alkerton and Guergis well told The Canadian Press their love affair was a tumultuous "soap opera" that spanned many years, but ended before she entered politics.

A friend of Alkerton said Guergis was well-known as a "debutante" in the area because of her wealthy family, whose members were heavily involved in local politics.

Chris Beleskey said she was one of the only steady girlfriends the "wild guy" Alkerton had at the time, with a bevy of club "groupies" passing in and out of his life.

"Shane was a very popular guy, a good looking guy, he had all the connections to parties and clubs and what not, and Helena was the kind of girl that if she wanted to go somewhere, she didn't want to wait in line or anything," said Beleskey, who trains exotic animals for the movie industry.

Beleskey added he didn't see Guergis involved in drugs, but "she would come out to the clubs, and at the clubs there were people doing drugs."

"She had a family name she had to protect as well, so she was taught very young to be careful with what she did and where she was and what not, she was pretty much under scrutiny from the time she was a teenager," he said.

It is not clear when Guergis and Alkerton ended their relationship, but some estimate it would have been about 1999 or 2000.

A source in Barrie -- not a fan of Guergis -- said even though she was in close proximity to the drug scene in the city, she did not use drugs.

"Helena was never a drug user. The most she would do is have a few drinks," the source told The Canadian Press.

In late 2008, years after the relationship with Guergis ended, Alkerton was arrested as a part of a major drug bust in the Barrie area, charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and heroin. Those charges have been stayed, according to the Ontario Provincial Police, which means the proceedings have been put on hold but the charges have not been dismissed.

Beleskey said Alkerton had just returned from a long stint in Florida at the time of the arrest, and was inadvertently caught in the drug bust while he was staying at a friend's place. He said when he last saw his friend a few months ago, he had changed a lot since his party days.

"He used to be quite a wild guy. ... It seemed like he was really busy with business, whereas before it was business with parties," said Beleskey.

Public documents related to a 2004 Employment Insurance case show Alkerton was fired from a Barrie car dealership when it came to light he had lost his driver's licence because of an impaired driving charge.

The Canadian Press attempted to contact Alkerton, but did not immediately get a response. His Facebook page features links to events at several bars in Barrie, including the Barrie Ranch, the Foxx Lounge and the British Arms Pub.

Guergis's lawyer Howard Rubel refused to comment on her relationship with Alkerton. The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to questions about background checks that candidates, ministers and MPs undergo before their acceptance.

Rubel did comment, however, on the latest reports of compromising photographs and offshore tax shelters.

Private investigator Derek Snowdy told the Toronto Star he had contacted Conservative party lawyer Arthur Hamilton last Friday with concerns about the alleged photographs and the possibility of blackmail.

Snowdy said he was investigating a business associate of Jaffer's, Nazim Gillani, who allegedly bragged that he had snapped the pictures with his cellphone. Gillani also said he had "reserved" offshore accounts for Jaffer and Guergis in Belize, a country both had visited on government business in 2008.

The Conservative lawyer who heard Snowdy's allegations immediately contacted Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who contacted the RCMP and removed Guergis from her cabinet position and from caucus.

Rubel said the allegations came from a man who was trying to win over a potential client -- the undercover investigator -- with "ridiculous boasts."

"We believe these circumstances speak for themselves," Rubel said in an email.

"Ms. Guergis vigorously denies all of this man's bizarre claims, and looks forward to helping the RCMP demonstrate that they are completely false."

Gillani's spokesman Brian Kilgore said his client did not have any comment on the new details, but was looking forward to appearing before MPs at the government operations committee next week.

"His immediate reaction was that he welcomed that and was looking forward to telling his side of the story," said Kilgore.

Gillani, Jaffer, Guergis and others have been summoned in a study of the government's handling of Green Infrastructure Funds. There are allegations Jaffer was using Conservative connections to push his company Green Power Generation -- allegations his business partner has denied.