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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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7 p( t. t& Y5 T3 Z; I! _( S: MRichard J. Brennan7 S0 T6 X5 e; o# ?& {3 Y
National Affairs Writer 9 ^$ M. e8 b( x" g8 _& N
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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.* [4 |! ^, k& D+ O) e! M
9 v9 ]$ v9 ^* _& M; a8 G2 F+ A9 v“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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" W9 Q2 @' f* x: A6 Z; QThe 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.
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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.6 X V2 i! L& [) G3 Q! Y" w- ?' A. A
% c0 J' J* T# c9 D4 t, ESpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.3 `3 q4 G l, G
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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.
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9 i# K2 T! A; C/ q- U! v% Q“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 T* ~# V# B Z7 |( O
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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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