Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Are lawyer's rats?

Maclean's magazine has published a front page story entitled "Lawyers are Rats" including an interview by Philip Slayton (a former Dean and Bay Street lawyer) who's written a new book detailing various lawyer misdeeds. The handful of examples he cites pales in comparison to the 90,000 plus membership of the legal profession. I think it's unfortunate that lawyers are subject to a double standard. During (and before) the Holocaust, many doctors were involved in the Third Reich's euthanization program and conducted bizarre and cruel experiments on unwilling subjects. This did not, however, result in an indictment of the medical profession as a whole - unlike lawyers who have been besmirched by individuals who have been sanctioned by the criminal justice system and by their respective law societies'. Here's a summary of Slayton's views by a more recent editorial in Maclean's: Mr. Slayton describes the world of Canadian law as miserable, amoral, obsessed with making money, rife with fraudulent and unethical activity, poorly regulated, and indifferent to issues of justice. In plain language, he argued that lawyers are rats, a phrase we chose as our cover line for the issue. In my opinion, Slayton's main issue is a non issue. There... Read more →

Troubling Past for Cheema

Narinder Pal Cheema (or Paul Cheema), the husband of murdered principal Shemina Hirji not only has a criminal past, but an immigration history as well. A permanent resident, he was subject to a deportation order because of his conviction of a serious, violent criminal offence against his then fiancee some 12 years ago. That deportation order (issued by the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board) was later set aside by the Immigration Appeal Division. There is apparently no indication or evidence that a home invasion as asserted by Cheema resulted in the death of his new bride. Globe and Mail article here indicates that Cheema was arrested by the police on Saturday. No details regarding his involvement (if any) - or the circumstances of his arrest over the weekend - have yet been made public. The Vancouver Sun on the other hand indicates that Cheema is now the only suspect in the murder and was questioned and released on the weekend. The article also discusses that Cheema apparently had plans to leave the country. The CBC has posted a PDF of the IAD decision here. In determining whether to set aside a deportation order against a permanent resident,... Read more →

New Office & Recruitment Agency Regulation in Alberta

Effective July 15, 2007, I will be leaving Caron & Partners LLP and starting my own firm at Suite 700 Bow Valley Square II (205-5th Ave SW) Calgary AB. You can reach me at (403) 705-3398 (after the 15th), and email at raj.sharma.immATgmail.com I gained some great experience working at Caron & Partners, but look forward to concentrating on immigration advocacy and helping find practical solutions to my clients' problems. I've reserved the domain www.immigrationpractice.ca (still under construction) for my official website. Check back often, this blawg will continue to be updated on a regular basis. I've been somewhat 'inspired' by the practice and specialization of Eugene Meehan QC (www.eugenemeehan.com) as well as other leading immigration practitioners such as Mr. Lorne Waldman, and will try to model my new practice accordingly. On a totally different topic, foreign workers, check out the cached Calgary Herald article here. It talks about some issues surrounding the massive increase in (unskilled) foreign workers that are arriving in Alberta and some problems - notably exploitation - that have been occurring. Recruitment companies that have been charging foreign workers should take note - not only do they(employment/recruitment companies/agencies) have to be licensed (Alberta Fair Trading Act)... Read more →