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1,800 new Canadians poised to lose citizenship: Kenney
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Richard J. Brennan
' L n# q$ e' _2 g* {' WNational Affairs Writer 1 P# m7 X/ i* p
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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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“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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% ^- \& |" w: \7 q4 D, H7 F. pKenney 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.8 O% L/ C" H. l0 y+ K
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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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" N C3 F9 l( y% l6 w; O8 x$ }They can challenge the decision in Federal Court. If not, Cabinet will move to revoke their citizenship.
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Citizenship revocation is relatively uncommon in Canada with only 63 people being stripped of their citizenship since 1977, Kenney said.8 r8 o) v- n1 s( I7 l5 X9 |! |( Z5 d
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Most were for reasons related to residence fraud, criminality and false identity, or concealing their involvement in war crimes.- M6 Y3 y1 z. c- w! y5 z
" l$ C$ j; {" ` QSpeaking in Vancouver on Tuesday, Kenney said Ottawa is trying to discourage immigration fraud.7 B4 u/ B$ I, u1 Q X' R
9 b @6 B1 `# U“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.% ^" u, m- r* g+ @4 }
, R T0 h9 z# ~& ?“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.% w, M' g4 m7 B) C7 b
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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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发表于 2011-7-20 09:05
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