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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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V P$ c- l2 B" FRichard J. Brennan- ?& l/ w* L% u2 ^
National Affairs Writer
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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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“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., Q+ ^ F& N$ c. z0 y. K! @! l
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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.& U* s, j+ y( T# [5 {1 U4 c
. U$ O' @+ _; t& [$ EThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.0 [8 S& _4 A, P# h' q; I+ c
1 t1 a ?4 y2 I) i3 ~, X" e“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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& x$ f- W4 k" {" j, M- M1 [They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.- s8 W2 ?9 N) x) E1 V# t/ w
/ L# G; {& d2 a+ M& pCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.. V6 X5 ]1 c- O, ~! y" K4 e, z7 V
3 o4 W& V" L5 m/ o8 X( s0 VMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.3 V2 l' [4 Q7 P9 r0 ^1 w# x, B
3 [) K8 q: a$ N YSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.* t8 Q1 T1 g0 a$ e; K
3 C/ X2 ?' `$ Q& k2 k“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.! H; P! p0 n+ E" c) x6 E
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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.0 p4 S! K8 d/ D
: D9 `3 ^2 a" O. bKenney 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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