Immigration Minister Judy Sgro fended off new accusations on Tuesday about her department's handling of the case of a Romanian stripper who was granted a residency permit.

Last spring, officials in Sgro's office granted a 25-year-old exotic dancer from Romania a residency permit while the woman was volunteering on Sgro's election campaign. The permit allows the woman to apply for landed immigrant status and to work in Canada while waiting the results.

Now the Conservative party is charging that Sgro's office violated the Privacy Act when it tried to give MPs detailed information about the woman in an attempt to convince MPs to stop their criticisms.

Judy Sgro (File Photo)

Opposition Leader Stephen Harper was the first of several Conservatives to accuse Sgro of offering to divulge sensitive information about her side of the story. The spiral of accusations has enveloped members of Sgro's staff as well as the Prime Minister's Office.

Federal ethics commissioner, Bernard Shapiro, is now conducting an expanded inquiry and Sgro has promised to make the results public, even though she continues to insist that she has done nothing wrong.

"I can assure you I don't play fast and loose with anything, never mind the law, especially when you get into the Privacy Act," she told the House of Commons.

NDP MP Pat Martin says he received a call from Sgro's officials to plead her case. He wasn't convinced. "The minister would have us believe that the terms of this case were justified, extraordinary, humanitarian and compassionate measures. To my mind that doesn't change the fact that this person jumped the queue."

But Martin says Sgro's officials never disclosed the details of the case and didn't violate any privacy laws. Like other opposition members, he wants Sgro to step aside until Shapiro's inquiry is finished.