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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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8 }7 y- q7 y5 R# e+ X5 D* |$ h, ^/ ORichard J. Brennan w; ~, i& P2 K0 i$ S" T& {% ?' d
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.. S, z( |1 f2 u+ s8 ]
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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.
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: Z) _/ P) K5 s. V' vKenney 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.! s; c/ q, j5 r
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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.9 M! l7 r# K3 M; D7 D7 a' J
: z" x4 {) G, d- i“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country.! L: j" f a" X* L% _" J
2 f" T2 x( f: Z- b/ ~! z# E4 {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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4 }$ N6 g9 J7 j4 i5 pMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.- r" O. W% j% i/ S! A! @- O6 k
0 q2 m2 Y; ^2 h# lSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.7 E' Y: V6 A. F8 d+ M
. q" e5 \8 f' \* o“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.9 @# D: `: h! V5 h) N$ i, ]. I5 ~
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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.
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" r/ D6 R3 {& PKenney 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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