Judy Sgro announced her resignation from cabinet on 14 January 2005, following accusations that she had offered to intervene in the immigration hearing of Harjit Singh in return for free food during the 2004 campaign (these accusations were later retracted and Sgro was cleared of any wrongdoing). Volpe was named as her successor. "The Globe and Mail" newspaper subsequently published an article which indicated that Sgro believed Volpe wanted her cabinet position, and further asserted that the two were rivals within the party. Volpe denied that he had anything to do with Sgro's resignation and cast doubt on the veracity of the report, saying that Sgro had told him directly that she did not make the statement attributed to her.