Immigration Minister Judy Sgro's beleaguered chief of staff went on leave yesterday, and two seasoned political staffers were brought in to help deal with the fallout from the so-called ''strippergate'' scandal.
Ihor Wons, Ms. Sgro's acting chief of staff, has been under a cloud of controversy since it came to light that he met with a Toronto strip-club owner who was having trouble bringing 18 strippers from the Dominican Republic under the exotic dancer program.
On Wednesday, the government cancelled the blanket visa that made it easy for strip-club owners to import foreign talent -- a program critics say exploited women and pressured them toward prostitution.
There were rumours last week that Mr. Wons had been fired, but the minister's office confirmed yesterday that he had taken a one-month leave from his job due to the stress he came under as the controversy intensified.
Last week, Ms. Sgro said she wished Mr. Wons had not gone to visit the House of Lancaster to meet with owner Terry Koumoudouros last summer. (Mr. Wons did not help Mr. Koumoudouros after the initial visit.)
Opposition politicians have repeatedly called for the resignation of Mr. Wons and Ms. Sgro, who granted a temporary resident permit to Alina Balaican, a Romanian stripper and campaign volunteer. The federal Ethics Commissioner will investigate the alleged irregularities and rule on whether conflict-of-interest guidelines were breached.
Two senior officials in former immigration minister Denis Coderre's office were brought in yesterday on one-month contracts to redirect the public's attention toward many substantive issues in the immigration portfolio, including a vision speech the minister will make in this month laying out plans to change the system.
Mark Dunn, a long-time Ottawa journalist who served as Mr. Coderre's communications director, and Maurice Rioux, Mr. Coderre's former chief of staff, will "help the minister move forward."
"She has been under persistent, unfounded attacks from the opposition," Mr. Dunn said. "The primary goal now is to engage Canadians in a brand-new vision of immigration. Everything is on the table."
Among the many issues are: the Safe Third Country Agreement, to be implemented Dec. 29 in the United States and Canada, which will require refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country they reach; the plight of undocumented workers; and long waiting times for some prospective immigrants.
Sources say information about the goings-on in Ms. Sgro's office were leaked to the press by disgruntled former staff members who were let go by the minister when she took over in December, 2003.
Strip-club owners believe the program that granted temporary visas to foreign strippers was cancelled for political reasons only. They will still be able to apply for temporary visas for foreign dancers as long as they can show Human Resources and Skills Development Canada there is a shortage of local women willing to do the job.