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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney/ {+ t& W5 l+ b
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Richard J. Brennan
# l. o, o8 Q% z! z& kNational Affairs Writer 6 {: A; k. g/ M" A& V( K/ ?
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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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& c; N* o. O) q4 d( M3 \9 }* {: X“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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1 P9 |5 Y) _9 d2 r2 }% wKenney 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.) N" {! z2 I2 @" S; [% c+ s
$ l+ n7 z' f* J! s$ @/ y“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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# A, a0 b( H/ }( H$ k7 }: ZThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship." I6 Y" S; g. d+ L' p* F7 T' E
. g% l ]& }; z& x3 ~Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said./ C) P) Q% h$ h6 x8 e2 k8 p7 w
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.* T: A" E1 B# n
; `1 V; |& |5 _8 C3 G/ O% B% W5 oSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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( ? Q8 u# J2 Q# e; j, Z“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. c% _+ s8 t) v- N8 w$ X) C
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Kenney 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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