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John Nunziata, former Member of Parliament and one-time Toronto mayoral candidate, has been charged with assault stemming from a Friday night incident at his son's hockey game.

Nunziata said his ex-wife's boyfriend, Murray Milthorpe, was "bugging" his 14-year-old daughter, while his 11-year-old son played hockey at Canlan Ice Sports in Etobicoke, so he approached Milthorpe and asked him to leave his daughter alone.

Nunziata alleges that Milthorpe then pushed him and told him off.

"I went up to him and said stop upsetting my daughter and he got belligerent and started pushing me," Nunziata said in the driveway of his Etobicoke home yesterday.

Nunziata said Milthorpe later went to police and told them Nunziata had kicked him in the buttocks, and that he had a bruise to prove it.

Nunziata denies kicking Milthorpe.

Nunziata said he and his wife divorced in May 2007 and share joint custody of their three children.

Asked to share his side of the story yesterday, Milthorpe said, "I would probably not want to comment, for the integrity of the kids."

Police said Nunziata will appear in court on November 26, and that no other charges had been laid in connection to the incident.

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