 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney8 G! ]& w! m" M1 k8 n/ O$ J# e
# o' W9 x7 L5 E! c& Y
Richard J. Brennan
' z, O; S% I; s' f9 LNational Affairs Writer
! N$ P. o& w, b2 L7 }$ ^
' w% Y; [: W2 \. C6 k" A" P3 K; ^# n: [) u, Y% o/ t
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.: z; r* p% ~, [
$ J7 I% m) L- `4 |# f% U" Z' x5 u
“We are in the process of notifying them that we will be revoking their citizenship because Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Kenney told the Economic Club of Canada.
& Z/ C) n' k9 a( q2 W# C. t
' ^! [8 j/ I' b3 g0 |( ]7 dKenney said some of the individuals are believed to have used “unscrupulous” immigration consultants who submitted fraudulent applications on behalf of people who did not meet the qualifications for citizenship.
2 n+ ?3 }" I' X* w2 E- ?7 ?# D" ?- K' k
The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
+ F- n, i }: D: m( w
' V& p0 r v! @8 H. m+ G“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
. [' H7 U: L' N3 o+ w# x4 }! r' { S
They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
% W7 A6 X$ K. d) M3 s9 p* u4 `4 V* J1 _- q4 K# j$ Z
Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.2 P9 p& ^# [1 r% G+ v- U! M2 ^: w
* L2 _0 Y% C7 d3 I* {1 `Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.1 F) A, V1 e7 K' k J; Q# R6 e
" d8 {/ G9 |6 O* `Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
U* |' f, T' S0 J# I7 z0 ^/ x. v
“For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a … passport of convenience, who don’t pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that’s dishonourable,” he told reporters after delivering a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.
2 ] [) o. } [8 `/ k/ T1 a
! I. b& w0 N, B0 {“There are many ways that we are combating immigration fraud and abuse of our generosity, whether it is from [bogus] asylum claimants, crooked immigration consultants, people smugglers [or] people who are abusing our citizenship program,” he said.' P& n' @6 P+ a$ z
$ @* h& G8 G7 W V- B7 g$ VKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
|