Interesting report from the Toronto Star:
Is the Toronto Star in the habit of making shit up? Is this story largely accurate?
I don’t know whether the story’s accurate but it’s certainly quite plausible. A terminal illness would be an obvious block to the granting of permanent residency.
So, the Toronto Star is a reputable paper, then? Any idea why the CBC isn’t reporting on this?
The Toronto Star, founded in 1892, is considered to be a reputable newspaper (and, I believe, has the largest circulation in Canada). However, the parent company also owns Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, publishers of Harlequin Romances; make of that what you will.
To answer your second question, I suspect that the reporter was contacted directly by the woman’s lawyer in an effort to get publicity for the issue. The Star is definitely a liberal paper, even by Canadian standards, so it would be a natural starting point for getting the story some media attention. The only other reference I found to the same story was an online petition.
Cerowyn: The Harlequin stuff is just business, as far as I’m concerned. It’s cheap (in every sense) and it sells like hotcakes. It doesn’t have anything to do with my opinion of other aspects of the business.
As for the media response, well, that’s why I posted the thread to begin with. It seems like a cause célèbre in some narrow circles that’s being ignored elsewhere, and it wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has turned out to be entirely false or greatly exaggerated. Having been picked up by a respectable outlet reduces, but does not eliminate, that possibility.
My comment about Harlequin was more of a joke than anything. I certainly don’t hold the business against them (especially since they sell 100,000,000 books a year, or some ridiculous number like that).
I should note that I have trouble taking the story at face value, particularly since it seems at odds with other anecdotes I’ve heard about people in similar situations. Other people have been accepted for residency in Canada with what sound like bigger “strikes” against them than the woman described in the story. I wonder if there isn’t some other mitigating factor (material misrepresentation in her original paperwork, criminal record, etc.) at work.