January 14, 2005
It's over for Sgro
The Immigration Minister is about to resign:
Federal Immigration Minister Judy Sgro will step down today following allegations she promised a Brampton man asylum in Canada in exchange for assisting in her election campaign.
Sgro's decision to step aside came only hours after the Toronto Star obtained a copy of an affidavit in which pizza shop owner Harjit Singh claims Sgro pressed him to supply food and workers for her campaign last spring.
Singh, a father of three facing deportation from Canada, alleges in the sworn affidavit filed in the Federal Court of Canada in Toronto yesterday that when word of his arrangement with Sgro started to leak out, Sgro suddenly reneged on the deal and last month ordered his arrest and removal from Canada "to save her job."
Last night, federal sources confirmed that Sgro, 60, already at the centre of an ethics investigation over her conduct as immigration minister, would be leaving cabinet until she can clear her name.
[...]
Singh, who is facing deportation next Thursday pending a last-minute hearing, says in his affidavit that he approached Sgro last year to assist him with immigration problems he and his family were having.
"I told her my whole situation and she assured me that if I helped out in her election campaign she would get me immigration in Canada," says the father of three in his affidavit.
Singh, who came to Canada from India in 1988, helped Sgro as she asked, including pizza deliveries to her campaign office, he says in his affidavit.
"I own a pizza store in Brampton and Judy said that she wanted me to deliver pizza, garlic bread etc., to her campaign office in North York. I did this. She also said that she needed 15-16 people to help work in her campaign. I organized this for her as well."
Sgro has spent much of her time lately fending off high-profile allegations that she dispensed political favours.
It was recently revealed Alina Balaican, a 25-year-old stripper from Romania, was granted a ministerial permit to stay in Canada after she volunteered on Sgro's election campaign.
Balaican's husband has told the Star that people with immigration problems flocked to Sgro's campaign office during the election.
Update: Bob Tarantino's message to the Liberals: "Ferchrissakes, can't you guys at least engage in impropriety for something worthwhile? Like, I don't know, cash payments ending with lots of zeros? Private islands in the Caribbean? Castles in small European countries? Hell, small European countries? Instead, you throw it all away for a couple of boxes of pizza and a couple of shmucks who will hammer some signs into lawns? Y'all suck."
Posted by damian at January 14, 2005 08:05 AM