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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney- }! ]5 X" G. t1 g& B/ @0 T
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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.
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“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.& r+ J2 [8 S) w5 X4 ` P
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Kenney 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.
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The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada." Y$ J* ?; ~( q' W) [+ @
+ i g3 Z& y U. X- N“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.! H- o0 A6 b N1 l x
- ?" I$ o) v7 S( t( O4 rThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.8 G" l2 t/ d" d- `
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“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.
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: S$ d5 k+ {: u `" \; `“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.% T1 A- u7 X9 y: l6 [ h1 f# `
( Y _* v2 d9 N3 s5 Y8 v( hKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
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