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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney: Q6 C8 E5 D( ?2 s
# q" d1 ~( L6 E& C' yRichard J. Brennan
/ Y" g/ T4 {; [5 W. R3 nNational Affairs Writer
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. V% S" y' M, B4 G5 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.( V" m, a2 E3 R) N2 V P/ b6 E
' z3 v3 Z" U4 p6 ~2 F, b“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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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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* O5 j& @; K4 }! X( BThe 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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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.. z) l" g+ Z1 _
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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./ b# U! ^- B4 U5 q7 x4 ?( n
1 Z. ^+ K3 I5 U8 USpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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# ]& @- Q7 x1 ~. O2 o/ i! g0 j! L“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.$ j' v1 s. L( }
0 @" K! ~2 O, i V" X; G# b“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.8 \2 @- c6 m9 O3 }) x' Y
5 r8 U) X& u" j7 ^5 h# s* 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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