www.theasianstar.com Vol 20 - Issue 4
Gurmant Grewal brings you Expertise to your Immigration Process By Harvinder Sandhu
Gurmant Grewal Immigration Resources Inc. is now where you will find Gurmant Grewal, a 3-terms (19972006) MP of Canada. An experienced Parliamentarian, Businessman, Consultant, Financial Institution Director, Senior Manager, University Professor, Motivational Speaker, and Community Leader and activist, Gurmant now has ventured into the immigration consultancy business as a way to help future new immigrants and to also provide the community with ethical practises. “As an MP of Surrey, at one time I had 16,000 immigration files from my constituents looking for help in navigating the immigration system. Many of these challenges came about because some immigration consultants in the arena were neither knowledgeable or experienced, some people just got their own immigration done from student visa to work permit to PR and have started this business without having core knowledge and are looting people by selling work permits.” Gurmant has thorough understanding of the working of government, parliament, the regulatory process, and public policy. He is hoping to utilize this unique knowledge, along Continued on page 8
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Tel:604-591-5423
Canada sees good news about Covid-19 inoculations as doses arrive more quickly
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anada’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign is ramping up after earlier supply disruptions and the number of inoculations last week hit a five-week high, officials said on Thursday. Canada has deals with Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, but both companies ran into production problems last month and
reduced shipments. The country trails many other nations in the total number of inoculations and critics accuse Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government of bungling the rollout. Ottawa buys the vaccines, while the 10 provinces and three northern territories administer them. Continued on page 8
South Asian quarantine officer demanded cash, then sexually assaulted Ontario woman A quarantine screening officer, identified only as Hemant, who allegedly demanded cash from a woman before sexually assaulting her at her home faces related charges, police said on Wednesday. The accused had been trained by the Public Health Agency of Canada as a designated screening officer under the Quarantine Act, Halton regional police said.
According to a police statement, the accused was doing a quarantine compliance check at a home in Oakville, Ont., on Feb. 18. “The accused informed the victim that they were in violation of the quarantine order and demanded that a fine be paid in cash,” police alleged. “When the victim declined to pay, she was sexually assaulted by the accused.” Continued on page 6
India beats China at its own game in Vaccine diplomacy battle India’s huge capacity to make coronavirus vaccines is helping the country take on China in the battle to gain political influence across the developing world. Competition among poorer nations to get cheap or free vaccines to fight the pandemic had given China a golden chance to strengthen ties in emerging markets it has
been courting for years. And initially Beijing seemed in a strong position. It suppressed the domestic spread of Covid-19 last year and accelerated the production of shots. At the same time, India was struggling to contain one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the virus, with nearly 100,000 cases a day, while a nationwide lockdown sent its economy Continued on page 3
Pakistan to remain on FATF ‘grey list’ untill June Global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday retained Pakistan on its “grey list” till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27 point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan. “To date,
Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan before June 2021,” FATF said in a statement at the outcome of a plenary that began on Monday.
A US doctor just called BC the ‘Florida Of Canada’ because of their Covid-19 rules
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n American epidemiologist and health economist has made waves on the internet after describing British Columbia as the “Florida of Canada.” In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding took aim at B.C.’s COVID-19 policies, saying he was “watching the Florida of Canada.... errrr British Columbia.”
The doctor was criticizing the province for not being “serious” enough when it comes to mask-wearing in schools. While masks are mandatory for students in B.C. middle schools and secondary schools, he’s calling for them to be required for younger kids, too. In another tweet, he explained, “7 different
school outbreaks in one small area seems like a lot…” “And yes, British Columbia’s transmission is currently the highest in Canada,” Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding added. While B.C.’s transmission rate is currently equal to Nunavut’s and below Manitoba’s, not the highest, it’s still worrying.