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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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% u! p" V5 O4 i8 J5 f/ |Richard J. Brennan
: o/ K- A( i! ^/ O: JNational Affairs Writer
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" L/ w8 Z M Z' E4 g5 ~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.
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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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8 [9 k$ `2 `' }' @" f9 X2 T) Q4 ~The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.1 t8 l9 X, f$ D# y& r q8 ]' _0 a4 V
% A8 P) y2 f x) D2 k3 u4 _! B“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
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- M8 \$ A) O+ I( w9 bThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.- N5 {. ?+ |% u
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Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.4 U$ O. L% Q# u) o% I( @- N7 A L
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.9 O- _2 ^9 b" J- h7 s7 _0 r" N
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.* _4 \! E' o) s$ N
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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.- \' L8 @9 z5 t+ ]7 r+ K: s
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“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." X# j5 }) d7 T0 k
# N2 g9 H2 D5 `6 ~ M0 IKenney 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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