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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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, W4 D6 @ C4 @+ m% m$ M2 C8 ]; |, z' M3 IRichard J. Brennan5 j- U' B/ s7 I& u
National Affairs Writer
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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.. |: X: ^4 O7 k' E
' n4 @; B: E; E0 t$ C. W“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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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.; Y" x8 D9 r4 T/ n9 R8 M) `
& b* ~# H6 T! N3 }8 e8 }The 1,800 were identified following a three-year investigation by the RCMP, other police forces and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.: @6 b0 t; U( j. c. \$ u" R7 Y% F
! V4 [/ ?. p6 _“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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4 e! C1 L8 g) s+ D8 H# z2 FCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.0 ]. a8 `& r- K; _
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.# o/ z" l/ M' P
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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% h; o5 _, Y# a“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.& ?7 C0 J4 O4 u% F
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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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