The man who has accused former immigration minister Judy Sgro of improprieties has been fighting to stay in Canada since 1988, documents show.
And Harjit Singh faces deportation as early as next week -- although he has a court date Monday that could help him avoid that fate.
"People have legal recourses and he exercised them all," new Immigration Minister Joe Volpe told CTV News about Harjit Singh.
In a sworn affidavit to the Federal Court of Canada, Singh said approached the Toronto MP last year to ask for help with his family's immigration problems.
"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," said the father of three who came from India.
Singh, who faces possible deportation next Thursday, alleged Sgro broke their deal when allegations of scandal in her office began to surface late last year.
"All of the allegations are so ridiculous," Sgro told CTV News, adding she's never met Singh and suspects his motives.
"He's going to do anything and say anything to stay here," she said.
Singh has been filing for immigration based on humanitarian grounds since 1988 when he and his wife first sought asylum.
His arguments have ranged from his wife's kidney disease (she has since died) to his own depression and a bad back.
Court documents also show Singh was part of a $1-million credit and debit card scam with his three children, The Toronto Star reported Saturday.
He was not convicted of a criminal offence in that case.
Singh is also involved in another civil suit for not paying a $57,000 legal bill to the lawyer who defended him.
Sgro blames politics
Sgro claims the allegations that had her resign from her post as federal Immigration Minister were politically driven by her enemies, both within and outside her own party.
"Everybody wants into cabinet," Sgro told The Globe and Mail, charging that the allegations were the result of a deliberate smear campaign.
"If they see you with the slightest bit of a problem, there are always people who think they have a chance at getting your job, who will even assist your opposition."
Sgro's rivalry with Joe Volpe, another Toronto MP who succeeded her as immigration minister, was well-known in the party.
Sources told The Globe that Volpe had been prepared to take over for several weeks.
And in a December interview with the paper, Sgro said Volpe "wanted her job."
Volpe's response to the cabinet shuffle was that Sgro "has done a fine job of laying the foundation. We want to build on those."
The growing ethical controversy was set off last year, when Sgro was first accused of helping a stripper who volunteered in her Toronto campaign office with her residence permit.
Since then, the 60-year-old minister has fielded allegations she took an improper election donation from a member of her riding association, and that her chief of staff held an inappropriate meeting with a strip club owner who was having trouble bringing dancers from abroad.
The federal ethics commissioner is already investigating several of the allegations levelled at Sgro.
Systemic problems
Opposition MPs like Conservative MP say this case points to an immigration system in shambles.
"This has raised questions about unfairness in the system across the board, this is going to have to be laid to rest," she said.
Volpe said he intends to try, but the how is in the works.
"I wish I could wave a magic wand and give you a really good answer off the bat," he told CTV News. "But the very first thing we need to do is beef up all the operational steps that would allow us to make quick decisions, effective decisions and have the appropriate mechanisms for enforcing those decisions."
With reports from CTV's Paula Newton, Roger Smith and files from The Canadian Press
