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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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Richard J. Brennan. _8 r9 ^; F- U/ x+ \+ Y+ o9 Y
National Affairs Writer 6 b! f0 Z5 j, V$ ]3 k
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6 ]; z: T D- A) u. wImmigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed Wednesday that as many as 1,800 new Canadians could be stripped of their citizenship because they were obtained fraudulently.6 g" }3 A% N4 k
: ^9 Q" J8 B3 ^6 [9 `/ m% g9 ?“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." i( H; U9 y) V' A! \: _
4 M8 _/ u) J A* RKenney 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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5 d0 T: y$ X5 zThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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3 F* c% o* j, h) I. f“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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9 t* u( q# K: i" K0 H. T6 a vThey can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.! C& P) |# W; P- o3 }
/ y: y1 D0 W: Y% ] M4 M$ b" R: eCitizenship 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.
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) N2 j6 m/ U/ g" R9 o" FSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.0 T# k5 c. l; T9 u* ~' k
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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.. L; q; {2 Q# ^6 o2 G
" B9 F2 m, F' Q( [% o“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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* q& P+ ^, `1 z* {' a$ tKenney 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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