 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney2 u9 B/ g% C+ o
+ m0 P* O* a, _/ \( V \: ?
Richard J. Brennan
2 v0 N) C/ |3 I0 ~National Affairs Writer % i# k) L# d/ o) N. e9 y" R: N: l
4 y0 d) E4 ?$ X {4 ^
0 P4 P L8 ?2 j5 f* q8 [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.
5 c0 N$ e$ O5 P, P/ a6 J, Q5 K' t
4 \- q; d+ ~8 Y; W% b' {* x- Z, H“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 D) Y: g* h0 A$ b
& v! t; y+ c) f! ?! B8 EKenney 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.- z! T o5 s/ T" k# T
; X" x1 h; P5 E% F/ G# |
The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
' |* l( `& _" u! [4 y# q1 P2 S# ^ u7 [! J6 I9 P5 z
“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.
& _* X$ N% N f" y; Y. ]' }' C' m+ o9 v) u5 \
They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship. M' P5 |9 c0 `& T6 ~1 j7 r0 J' E: ]
- k- t/ S5 l- [+ @" C+ l( X! z. _3 ZCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.% [9 C+ q& l3 F! l& r
' Q. b' J- |& W9 Q7 vMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.! X/ d$ O! G# T# \0 S+ e
" p" s5 R) U) ~7 S" y& ESpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
0 a: v3 N2 [/ d' D6 n, f
: S4 H( g. C+ Y4 {0 H1 D: V5 n5 ?“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.
8 R4 ~6 M- ^4 [' s, Q( F5 j3 c' q1 R3 P$ h# M) |
“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.
* ^4 m2 q$ L' u' }
+ P! t7 G+ m# }- f( O9 e0 m5 dKenney also announced that Canada will soon be introducing multi-year visas for low-risk visitors from around the world that will last 10 years. |
|