In the blood sport that is politics, sometimes, the best way to make a story go away is to ignore it, particularly if it's a story barely anyone paid attention to in the first place.

Blaine Calkins decided on a different tack.

The Conservative candidate in the Alberta riding of Red Deer-Lacombe has threatened legal action against his Liberal opponent, Rev. Jeff Rock, over statements Rock made demanding Calkins refund to taxpayers money he raised with the help of Conservative Senator Mike Duffy.

Duffy is on trial for 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed in 2013 as a senator and were later repaid by Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff.

Rock, a United Church of Canada minister, urged Calkins to donate to charity or pay taxpayers back the $4,185 Rock says was raised for Calkins's riding association at a dinner attended by Duffy.

Rock said Thursday he was very surprised to receive a demand letter from Calkins's lawyer this week accusing him of slander and libel.

"I never accused him of doing anything illegal," Rock said in an interview with CBC News.

Tories owe taxpayers $610K, say Liberals

On Sept. 12, Ontario Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan and Quebec Liberal candidate Greg Fergus held a news conference in Ottawa to make the case that the Conservatives should refund taxpayers all of the money the party raised with Duffy's help.

The Liberals argue that because Duffy is on trial for inappropriately charging taxpayers for some of his travel, including to Conservative fundraising events, the Conservatives should pay the money back, in the amount of $610,000.

Vaughan and Fergus's press conference, however, was held the same day as the Conservatives announced they would be increasing humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees. Needless to say, the Liberals' attempt to resurrect the Duffy case did not make national headlines.

That day, Rock sent out a news release and tweets saying Calkins was one of the Conservatives who raised funds with Duffy's help.

Local TV news had a short story on it, in which Calkins called Rock's demands to repay the funds "pretty rich" coming from the party responsible for the sponsorship scandal.

And that might have been the end of it — but for the lawyer's letter sent to Rock this week.

This is a blatant attempt to tie Mr. Calkins to Mr. Duffy's legal issues where not (sic) such connection exists. - Craig W. Paterson, lawyer

"Your suggestion that the fund raising done by Mr. Duffy for Mr. Calkin's [sic] was somehow wrong and as such Mr. Calkins has engaged in inappropriate behaviour by somehow allowing Mr. Duffy's [sic] to fund raise on his behalf is slander and liablass [sic]," wrote Craig W. Paterson, of Ponoka, Alta., law firm Paterson & Company.

Calkins, via Paterson, took exception to a particular sentence in Rock's Sept. 12 press release that said: "The improper fundraising has put hundreds of thousands of dollars in the coffers of Conservative riding associations, including right here in Central Alberta."

"This is a blatant attempt to tie Mr. Calkins to Mr. Duffy's legal issues where not [sic] such connection exists and in the process slander Mr. Calkin's [sic] and his constituently [sic] association," the letter from Calkins's attorney says.

"This paragraph, in conjunction with the rest of the September 12th, 2015 press release and the aforementioned Twitter posts, constitutes defamatory statements."

Calklins is demanding that Rock retract his press release and cease issuing Twitter posts on the subject. "Failure to do so could release [sic] in legal action against you and your campaign team. Please govern yourself accordingly," the letter states.

Rock says no retraction will be forthcoming.

Calkins did not respond to email and telephone requests for an interview.