LONDON, ON -- Rookie MPP Teresa Armstrong says there is no link between her arrival at an east-end plaza and the end of methadone services at the pharmacy next door.

"Drawing that line is really offensive to me," she said. "I or my staff have never contacted the landlord or even met the people that own the pharmacy about any issues about dispensing methadone -- that I know to be true."

Armstrong opened her constituency office in May. The pharmacy stopped serving methadone patients in July.

In an exclusive interview with QMI Agency Friday, the NDP politician discussed the controversy -- and the fallout that's ensnared both her and her city councillor husband, Bill Armstrong.

One longtime commercial tenant has admitted to complaining to the plaza's owner this past spring about the presence of methadone patients.

The pharmacy owner's lawyer says they didn't want to stop filling methadone prescriptions but did so under pressure from the property owner. Attempts to reach the owner were unsuccessful this week.

Armstrong also discussed the other dimension to the dust-up: the letter sent by the pharmacy's lawyer, Faisal Joseph, in response to Bill Armstrong's visit to that methadone-dispensing pharmacy during last fall's provincial election.

Joseph's letter stated the city councillor aggressively approached a pharmacist and warned continued methadone dispensing could lead to "problems and troubles."

Joseph also stated the councillor sought information about the number of methadone patients and where they were from.

Armstrong has denied much of the letter, saying the account is "blown out of proportion."

Any connection between that visit and her arrival next door is beyond belief, the MPP said -- she didn't even find the site until six months later.

Ontario's privacy watchdog is probing the city councillor's 2011 visit to the pharmacy, specifically to see if any patient medical information was disclosed improperly.

The pharmacist who met the councillor that day has declined comment, saying he felt intimidated by the politician's visit and remains so.

Methadone is a liquid medication created to be similar to opioids, such as heroin and some painkillers, but without the same "high." It successfully reduces or eliminates the craving for those drugs.