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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney9 f {* |( o! f8 B' E. k+ v# \% G
" |* E; v/ e! w3 [- ~ BRichard J. Brennan
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8 [+ j V& C$ g2 l5 B$ P$ |" qImmigration 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.: d" d# b% M0 i( |. L& L
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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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“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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- j7 Y' r4 N3 Q1 ~0 eCitizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said., r6 Z7 g, L3 ]
: O& ]$ v5 N. x8 Y& ]& _0 E# C, }Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.9 u4 w2 H4 p* L$ n8 T; F \
2 H) q9 w7 k/ h7 }1 \Speaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.
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' s1 c( ]" ]7 ~6 {7 n3 W“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., E" x1 s1 v9 v0 `/ R
+ @1 p8 B% _* c' M, Z x“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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8 j2 \9 i" U+ M) N* N+ x4 SKenney 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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