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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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! \( e/ |: Z B3 X/ w& yRichard J. Brennan
" l2 P" b/ x- p+ t9 C; P0 \National Affairs Writer / p% N3 ?6 B0 _9 d
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5 i) o) p9 \- D. GImmigration 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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0 W& e) w! K! F+ q0 w& [( @“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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5 I k1 g c$ Q0 cKenney 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. K* P8 L }+ I. b& Y% e5 H
; S! P- l9 }" i; S4 x- U* W& {“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.# b' u3 {7 G1 N4 x/ t
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.8 E% E9 X3 H3 e
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Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.( Z% u } ?& k$ p
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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.3 e6 y( k1 n1 P Y* w. f0 {) R7 W* n
2 T# J' M& }) ?7 L9 b“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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“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./ Q! ?* m9 T# U
* I$ r' n6 E; G; QKenney 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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