Immigration minister resigns

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Judy Sgro said she had to resign Friday to fight the "ridiculously false" allegations that she promised to help a pizza shop owner avoid deportation in return for help on her re-election campaign last spring.

"As long as I was the minister, my hands were tied," she told CBC News.

"I wanted to be free to defend myself very vigorously against these ridiculously false allegations," said Sgro, who becomes the first minister to quit since Prime Minister Paul Martin took power in December 2003.

Judy Sgro

Martin accepted Sgro's resignation Friday morning. Human Resources Development Minister Joe Volpe replaced her at Citizenship and Immigration in an official swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall early Friday afternoon.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Lucienne Robillard will take over Volpe's old job as well as her current one. She was out of town Friday and will be sworn in when she returns.

"It is with great regret that I accepted Judy Sgro's resignation," Martin said outside Rideau Hall.

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"She wants to have a completely free hand to defend herself against these allegations," he said. "I continue to support Judy Sgro."

She decided to step down a day after an affidavit from Harjit Singh, who owns a pizza shop in Brampton, Ont., was filed in Federal Court in Toronto.

In the sworn affidavit, Singh says Sgro pressed him for free pizza and garlic bread and asked him to supply "15 or 16" volunteers for her campaign office.

"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," Singh alleges in the affidavit.

He says Sgro broke their deal and ordered his arrest and deportation to his native India when she began to come under fire last fall for helping an exotic dancer from Romania who also worked on her re-election campaign.

Singh, a father of three who has been in Canada since 1988, is scheduled to be deported next Thursday.

Sgro told CBC News that Singh is making these allegations because of his impending deportation.

"The man is clearly going to be deported. He's in detention. He's desperate and will do anything and say anything that will keep him in the country," she said.

She said Singh's claims are "absolutely irresponsible" and "totally false" and that she was unaware of his case.

Sgro denied they ever spoke, adding that she was at home for the last three weeks of the campaign because of an ear infection.

"I've never had a conversation with this individual whatsoever," she said.

She dismissed his claims about the free pizza, saying that her campaign office is located in an Italian area with many restaurants.

"It's so stupid. We had loads of food," she said.

The 60-year-old Liberal politician represents the riding of York West in Toronto.

The ethics commissioner is already investigating the earlier allegations against Sgro.