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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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- j+ ]; s ~: t' W0 I& jRichard J. Brennan
( M; D/ Y+ b9 Q1 ?, a& gNational Affairs Writer : ]" X6 s+ L+ {1 v( _
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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.
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C/ ]# L8 a" A! l8 m% K+ m5 z4 sKenney 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.; q" R. N2 {! M! U& D; g
; f/ q9 U& V! x$ J: S7 QThe 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.9 w7 B5 V/ g1 h; x. O: {
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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.1 T, B3 G5 {0 U# I, t+ I7 S7 q
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship. E, G1 b5 S/ S
4 B4 q: H/ i+ F" w/ O4 c* {0 w, mCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.3 x. a8 L2 s9 E, u# D
: X: D7 j" i$ h( p! X; e$ J" C9 mMost 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.4 h" k, v. c9 o) @8 Y! B) M2 U
3 u* r: V7 r0 @# ~1 T1 c“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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* B$ }) @9 c8 h9 x* L+ R! Z+ y“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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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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