OTTAWA - Judy Sgro, who was already on political life support, succumbed today to a fresh allegation of wrongdoing and resigned as federal immigration minister. But she said she was only stepping down to allow her to prove she's innocent and fight to clear her name. She became the first casualty in Prime Minister Paul Martin's seven-month-old minority government, which limped back to power in June on promises of being squeaky clean after the sponsorship scandal. Sgro's departure came after allegations made by a Toronto pizzeria owner, reported in today's Toronto Star, that she promised him asylum in return for providing food and workers for her re-election campaign last June. Harjit Singh, who is fighting deportation to India, claims in a sworn Federal Court affidavit that when word of their arrangement leaked out, she ordered his deportation to "save her job."

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