http://www.cuminggillespie.com

Kelly Cryderman, Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, April 20, 2008

Minutes after paying $60 in fees for a $300 loan, Terry Hartley just shrugs.
“This one’s not bad,” Hartley, 47, says of the interest on the week-long loan. “It’s not cheap, but it’s better than some of them.”
Hartley, a courier who earns about $600 a week said he’s recently declared bankruptcy — fallout from his divorce and “wasting money.” He has a bank account, but no line of credit.
Two weeks ago, he fell behind on some bills and had to go for an advance at a payday loan company on Macleod Trail.
“You can only get half of what your paycheque is,” he said.
One week later, Hartley went back. This time to take out a loan to pay off almost all of the first loan, which he didn’t have the money to pay off.
The cost of two weeks grace: another $60.
“That’s more or less all it is — convenience,” Hartley said, shrugging once more, adding he hopes he won’t have to get a cash advance again this year.
When a borrower like Hartley takes out another loan to cover the first, with new fees, it’s termed a “rollover” in the payday loan industry. Rollovers have been banned by larger payday loan companies, as they trap some borrowers in a cycle of loans.
Alongside other provinces, the Alberta government is now grappling with rollovers and other contentious issues as it debates how to properly police the rapidly growing payday loan industry. This week will see the end of consultations on new regulations for the industry.
While there has been little attention paid by people not intimately involved, it will be no easy task for the government to come up with rules that please both businesses and consumer advocates.
Some see payday loan companies as shady exploiters of the poor and desperate, or those with bad credit. Others say they provide a much-needed service that banks and credit unions won’t touch, in part due to the high number of defaults on loans.
“The payday loan industry is one that evokes strong opinions from both sides,” said Brock Ketcham, who is leading the Alberta government’s review of the industry in the consumer services branch.
The people who use payday loans are charged $20 to $50 for every $100 they borrow to tide them over until payday. Money Mart, the Cash Store, Western Cash Mart or EZ Cash Advance and numerous others are all firms that provide small, short-term loans with high interest-rates and fees that in some instances add up to 1,000 per cent or more, if calculated on an annual basis.
Whether it be rising consumer costs or an increasingly willing attitude when it comes to taking on debt, Canadians have not shied away from using services offered by the payday loan companies
From just a handful of stores in the early 1990s, Canada now has at least 1,350 payday loan outlets, with more than 250 of those storefronts in Alberta.
“All you have to do is compare a Yellow Pages today with one three or four years ago, and you would see there’s a very significant rise in the number of outlets,” Ketcham said.
The province itself has a strong connection to the industry. The Canadian payday loan industry has its longest histories in B.C. and Alberta, and the two largest providers in the country — Money Mart and Cash Store Financial (formerly known as Rentcash Inc.) — both were founded in Edmonton.
(page 1 of 3) - full article is available here.

Excerpt posted for your convenience from Canada.com, no copyright or ownership of this article is claimed by cuminggillespie.com. The full article is available here.

In February, 2003, I suffered a massive heart attack while a hospital patient.

On February 17, 2003, my wife and I took our two dogs for a walk. I started to have difficulty breathing, was red in the face, became panicky and was sweating even though it was very cold outside. I told my wife that I thought that I was having a heart attack.My wife drove me to the hospital. Upon presentation in Emergency I was sweating, breathing rapidly and my fingers, hand and arms were numb and tingly and I could not catch my breath.The Emergency physician diagnosed acute anxiety and hyperventilation.I was admitted to hospital. The next evening I sustained a massive heart attack.

My life has significantly changed since my massive heart attack - the functional capacity of my heart has been dramatically reduced. I used to be a power engineer at a sour gas plant who enjoyed big game hunting and fishing. I can no longer work and spend most of my time in a reclining chair in front of the television.

I retained the legal services of Bill McNally & Pamela Fischer and launched a medical malpractice law suit. A Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta found that the Emergency Physician was negligent in my care in that he failed to order the required tests for a 45-year-old smoker who arrived in the Emergency Department with my symptoms.

Bill and Pam handled my case in a professional manner and demonstrated a real sense of understanding and compassion with respect to the hurdles I was facing as a result of my sustaining such a life-altering injury. Their successful handling on my case resulted in me being awarded a significant sum of money and this has had a fundamental effect on my life for which I am grateful.

Bob Zazelenchuk

In February, 2002, my life changed forever when I dislocated my right shoulder and sustained a fracture to my humeral head, tore my rotator cuff and damaged the nerves in my shoulder. I subsequently developed a frozen shoulder. I am right-handed and today I live with severe chronic pain which interferes with my sleep and adversely affects all of my daily activities.

I am an elementary school teacher by profession - a vocation which I loved. On February 4, 2002, I took my science class outside to trace their shadows on the sidewalk. As I was walking on the sidewalk of the school yard I stepped on a patch of snow which was situated below a drain spout which channelled water off of the school’s gym roof onto the sidewalk. I fell heavily onto my right shoulder. Shear ice lay under the skiff of snow in a depression in the sidewalk.

I retained Pamela Fischer to represent my legal interests. Pam helped me through the litigation process, concluding with a Judicial Dispute Resolution before the Honourable Madam Justice Romaine. Pam was very professional and compassionate. She understood my medical complications and my fear of the legal process. She obtained a very good settlement for me which will allow me to attend at a Chronic Pain Clinic in an effort to improve the quality of my life. I am fortunate to have had the benefit of Pam’s legal expertise and personal assistance.

Debra S.

To whom it may concern:

My mother was involved in a car versus pedestrian accident on November 23, 2005. She sustained a burst fracture of T12 vertebral body. She had an interior spine decompression at the T11 L1 level with instrumentation and left iliac crest bone graft. She has complete motor loss below T12 and remains with incomplete sensory loss at and below the same level. In short, she was left a paraplegic.

My family and I were totally shocked and really felt helpless until we found McNally Cuming Raymaker. Mr. James Cuming and Mr. Craig Gillespie came to the Foothills Hospital and visited my mom. They did a great job and considered everything for my mom. They contacted social workers; they contacted the Calgary Health Region; found us a brace company and wheel chair company; dealt with the insurance company and they even found a nursing house for my mother’s recovery.

My mother is a resident of P.R. China and after her surgery she had to go back to China to continue therapy. In the next two years, Mr. James Cuming and Mr. Craig Gillespie did a lot of hard work to make everything work well. It was not only a big difference between two health care systems, but it was also very hard to find someone that is good at both languages and being a certified doctor by the Canadian Health system. At the end of 2007, they got the maximum compensation from the insurance company and my mother accepted the offer. Right now, although my mom is still in a wheelchair everyday, I would say we got the best result in this situation. My whole family really appreciates McNally Cuming Raymaker, their professionalism, their understanding, their hard work and their highly efficient team. I highly recommend their services to anybody who truly needs help.

Zhong Wei