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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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) z1 Q/ E X0 ?" |# FRichard J. Brennan
5 z1 _ Z, |5 YNational Affairs Writer
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! H* n! V; g: Y$ U7 hImmigration 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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& s+ s: R. y7 o) 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.- l+ K/ T% ]. l
/ [8 j8 E) ]/ R- B6 X |" s8 IKenney 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.
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“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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5 c! u2 |: d( Y+ GThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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$ u5 Y6 ]) G) M. L. YCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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' z( \+ s2 f, L' ]; iMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.' p. p' U8 K. ^& ^
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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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./ S2 N+ X4 d/ l1 C& a
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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.4 _! F( O# m K+ T
" L q6 A, E/ m5 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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