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Police have been investigating Mr. Ford and the video since 2013. The mayor has long refused to be interviewed for the probe. Now it appears, he will no longer have a choice.

Mr. Lisi is scheduled to appear in court on the extortion charges next March. That means the mayor won’t likely have to testify until long after his political fate has been decided, in municipal elections scheduled for Oct. 27.

Still, news of the subpoena comes at an awkward time. After being all but written off following a two-month stint in rehab, Mr. Ford’s campaign has recently shown signs of something approaching life. A poll released this week showed the mayor in second place in the race, trailing only front-runner John Tory.

At a debate at the downtown Hilton Thursday, Mr. Tory and Mr. Ford traded barbs, each doing his best to ignore the other candidates, Olivia Chow and David Soknacki.

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Afterward, Mr. Ford dodged questions about the ongoing police investigation, calling it the “oldest news around.”

He did not address questions about whether he would meet with investigators. “Guys, those days are gone, and I think you all know it. But you aren’t going to admit it.

“So, they can do whatever they want. You can do whatever you want. I’m doing what the taxpayers want. Go to their doors, return their calls, do what I’ve been doing for 14 years,” he said.

However, later Thursday, when the mayor was asked specifically about being subpoenaed in the Lisi case, he did not hesitate to answer.

“Yeah,” he said, before hustling into a campaign event put on by the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee. “I’ve been served.”

The mayor said the meeting with Det-Sgt. Giroux, a longtime homicide investigator, had been prearranged. Det-Sgt. Giroux did not respond to requests for comment.

News of a potential subpoena first broke more than a month ago. Mr. Ford’s brother, Councillor Doug Ford, initially accused Police Chief Bill Blair of leaking the news. He later retracted those comments after Chief Blair threatened to sue.

National Post