Erik De Castro / Reuters

Under the previous government, secrets were closely guarded and usually only leaked when it was to their benefit.

But in the days before the Liberals revealed their plan to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees, CBC ran a story with the headline "Canada's Syrian refugee plan limited to women, children and families."

Citing anonymous sources, CBC reporter Rosemary Barton reported that due to security concerns "unaccompanied men seeking asylum will not be part of the (refugee) program."

The Liberals quietly disavowed the story. Sure enough, when the full plan was made public Tuesday there were significant differences from the CBC story.

The refugee plan does prioritize women, children and families. But some single men can be brought in if they are in danger of persecution, such as for their sexual orientation. Also, unaccompanied men can be brought in through private sponsorships, of which there will be 10,000 by the end of February.