News

Sanaa聽Ahmed聽began her two-year term at Schulich Law as a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow in聽October. After earning her BA and LLB聽in her home country of Pakistan聽from the University of Karachi,聽Sanaa went on to get her LLM at聽the University of Warwick聽and her PhD at Osgoode.聽

We recently chatted with Sanaa about her research, and her impressions of Schulich Law and Halifax.

Why did you want to study law?

I always knew that I would study law. I come from a family of lawyers 鈥� my father was a judge on the Supreme Court of Pakistan 鈥� and all of our conversations around the dinner table were about law and politics.聽The study of law is聽so聽addictive聽鈥撀爋nce you start, you want to聽know聽more and more.

What are you working on while at Schulich Law?

My聽research focuses聽on聽the regulations around money laundering in Canada. I鈥檓 looking to understand why the regulatory regime is so ineffectual and to investigate whether weaknesses are deliberately baked into the system. I think this is important for two reasons. First, when we talk about stopping laundering, we also need to consider how central this 鈥榖usiness鈥� has become to the Canadian political economy 鈥� the real estate markets, the financial services sector, the casinos and what-not. The question here is, can Canada do without this money? Second, I think we also need to consider how money laundering regulation feeds financial sector surveillance. Even a credit card statement can tell you so much about a person 鈥� what magazines they subscribe to,聽their political views, if they聽have mental health issues.聽Do we really聽want the state to know so much about us?

Why did you want to come to Schulich Law?

I was drawn to Schulich because of its focus on business law 鈥� I鈥檝e studied the law on three continents now and one rarely finds the kind of consistent focus that you see here. The overarching Dal focus on Big Data was another draw but, above all, I was looking for the kind of collegial atmosphere that fosters real scholarly engagement and serious academic research. I love that Schulich Law can host a conference that marries tax law with international trade law and environmental law! Also, it鈥檚 so wonderful to see聽Dean Cameron come around and chat with everyone聽鈥� you don鈥檛 see that at the聽larger law schools.

What's your favorite thing about Halifax?

It鈥檚 such a聽human-scale,聽walkable city, and so beautiful.聽Plus, the聽people who live here have a real sense of community and ownership 鈥� they聽smile at strangers and聽help each other out! It鈥檚 such a refreshing change from larger cities.