months of controversy, Fantino was replaced by Erin O'Toole and demoted to the position of Associate Defence Minister. In the 2015 Canadian federal election, Fantino was defeated by Liberal candidate, Francesco Sorbara in the redistributed electoral district of Vaughan-Woodbridge. Assault charge On October 1, 2015 a retired construction worker, John Bonnici, pressed charges against Fantino over an alleged incident on August 31, 1973 in which Bonnici claimed that Fantino poured ketchup down his (Bonnici's) buttocks and spread the condiment by stroking the outside of his pants with a baton. Fantino, who was seeking re-election to the House of Commons in the 2015 Canadian federal election, was charged with "assault with a weapon" — a police baton — and "assault causing bodily harm" against John Bonnici. The Crown dismissed the charge in December 2015 arguing that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction. Post-political life Cannabis industry In September 2017, Julian Fantino announced that he was working with Aleafia, a Concord Ontario-based company that is involved in the use of medical marijuana, one of the many start-ups capitalizing on Canada's July 1, 2018 decriminalization of marijuana. On October 31, 2017, Fantino was announced as Executive Chairman of Aleafia. In several news interviews, he explained how his attitude to the drug changed during his time as Veterans Affairs Minister when he saw the benefits of pot in assisting soldiers to deal with anxiety, sleep disorders and PTSD. Fantino, who had been the board's chair, resigned from the board effective May 15, 2020. He had been criticized for his involvement due to his longtime opposition to cannabis and having once compared legalizing the substance to legalizing murder. Fantino was also involved in a retail recreational cannabis store which opened in Toronto's Kensington Market in 2020. Donald Best On September 28, 2017 Julian Fantino swore an affidavit in support of his application to intervene in the judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Judicial Council in respect of a complaint by former Toronto Police officer Donald Best against Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy. Fantino's "extensive" 33 page plus 100 exhibits affidavit stated that Best was convicted "upon the presentation by lawyers of provably false evidence." and that that "disturbing" evidence suggests police resources and personnel were "improperly retained, used and co-opted" to help one side in the private civil dispute at the time that Fantino was Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial