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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney0 g3 @1 p' A7 F& e4 O
7 y/ `# M- f3 A4 p; p' w7 zRichard J. Brennan+ o$ w0 \( Y! i: L; Q7 i0 p' g
National Affairs Writer
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& g! \9 C+ `+ [7 z, ?+ A5 qImmigration 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./ _ c3 O- i8 }9 Q
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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.$ M5 c; r' N# t* r+ o$ Q
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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.5 p4 |6 ~0 u1 D
; B1 m) L3 V8 U5 \“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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1 Z" _" q5 y p5 T) o' ?0 OMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.& i0 x( @3 O/ h+ | K/ ^- C4 c
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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.: X; q. x* L! B( ]% }2 I i
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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.5 e5 r" v; @5 ?
- G3 f1 ]5 `6 _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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