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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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Richard J. Brennan8 M. e' Y r. Z$ x( q- E. H
National Affairs Writer 2 ^$ Q! B0 v# j, \/ s
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& C/ e9 f; r* }. C) jImmigration 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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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.
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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.
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/ [9 h! C w3 d6 H- H8 Z- H“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 h0 k; |* k3 I- ZCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.( C) p2 V* H% U: h% L* h' w
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Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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2 U, K# M! b0 o9 J- \8 S“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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# i) |. X3 ~. i0 P! U“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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