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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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: F! N& m3 j3 @- U' e1 Y' c8 bRichard J. Brennan+ Y/ p8 a! x$ b- g
National Affairs Writer ) J; t' J# n8 u1 F
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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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+ U* \" R, Z) P$ Q; b. k“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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6 P7 G4 ]% ~0 VKenney 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.) L/ a. d! ^8 z; p: v- g
4 h0 L7 R* P# s! C7 ]“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.( O- |4 J3 C" Y* M
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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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+ L8 y4 t8 A, W; P& EMost were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.
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4 N1 a1 C4 r6 t2 ]Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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) N* `& b3 V* v- q: c' n“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.* V5 \) i# j$ z7 ]( z
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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 V: @$ R6 ~" s! LKenney 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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