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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney# N" Z. X7 y! r& U5 l' }' b' V
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Richard J. Brennan: d3 W6 N' U0 _3 j
National Affairs Writer # w9 D- R6 T/ f: F0 L1 `5 m
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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.; {8 @5 H- E3 ]. C
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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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" n! F8 P& M5 K ]) O8 U& [% xThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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# N/ g7 U: V1 a$ ]% z“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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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.1 h: D0 I' f$ J! q0 z+ t* l2 ]
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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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! y; P% G. z t4 k7 tSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.! G ^$ ]4 D8 @ w" _& i8 f
! `7 _5 F+ `6 @9 M. T. z9 g“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.. b, P8 c5 b2 S$ d( S. 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.
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4 W3 d) N0 P/ j& v! xKenney 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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