VANCOUVER -- The Commissioner of the RCMP was reluctant to answer questions about a speeding ticket he avoided after being stopped by an officer along a British Columbia highway.

Bob Paulson told members of the Vancouver Board of Trade that he was pulled over while driving a rental vehicle along the Coquihalla Highway returning from a friend's wedding last year.

"The officer walks up and says, 'Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"' Paulson told the crowd.

"He says, 'Driver's licence and registration,' ... and I gave him my licence and he looks at it and he goes, 'Aw, seriously,"' he added, as the crowd laughed.

When questioned later by a reporter, Paulson initially said it was just a story he made up.

When pressed, Paulson said the story was true but he didn't want to say whether he had received a ticket.

"I don't want to talk about that. I do not want to talk about that," he said.

A short while later Paulson was again asked about the speeding story. He confirmed he had not been given a ticket but said he hadn't received preferential treatment.

"I was warned," Paulson said.