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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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Richard J. Brennan
9 V/ d- i$ K) v9 Y, m5 H& r! v) KNational Affairs Writer ! s) x) k- |+ g: U
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G6 _# o' C% C+ i6 D; _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.( R# F/ V5 b/ ]* n
9 \7 j; O0 a0 R! S. D! iKenney 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.' L j" r5 Q$ r& g' M8 y' F
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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.) s, D* T2 ]% o6 l/ F a3 f
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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.
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They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.' ?" Q" P9 @4 x Y; H& I( w* Q
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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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" X( |. D3 t0 Y8 f8 s( ]Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.7 M9 y0 R Z$ y
/ o& `, h U* q6 u8 j/ K* }. C) OSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.& z& y6 P8 V" [1 O# U; ^
& E& H* p2 A0 q1 f \“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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“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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4 B, { ?+ M3 wKenney 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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