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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney7 s0 |- x& {* G3 W, w) m
o3 f& x, {; wRichard J. Brennan
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% v) R. n7 _; Z+ K: a/ N4 [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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5 E) ]5 W4 d, c3 N8 T) [! s. wKenney 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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The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.5 J# M0 U" R8 p) X: F9 @
, n7 {4 ? F6 s0 H9 d4 S2 `5 J“By the way, we are not done with our investigation” Kenney said, noting that many of the accused live outside the country., Q2 m: G) w% [4 ~
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship. n& c' `; A* M, P, L' S
/ N* r4 W( s; SCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.2 S9 o' h* K, b' _, q: C1 z
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.4 r. @9 F5 }3 i2 Z- _3 D0 d6 u) Q
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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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.$ S1 w4 J# Y2 ` {3 u
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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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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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