Canada
column for Sunday, Sept. 16/12
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THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By
Jim Fox
The
federal government is stripping the Canadian citizenship of thousands of people
who have cheated the system.
“Canadian citizenship is not for sale,” Immigration
Minister Jason Kenney said, vowing to continue the Conservative government’s
crackdown against cheats.
Canada is revoking the status of 3,139 people for abusing the system in
order to receive citizenship, he said.
As
well, thousands more are being investigated on suspicions of fraudulently obtaining
or maintaining their permanent residence for citizenship purposes.
In
all, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is looking at the cases of about 11,000
people have been potentially implicated in lying to apply for citizenship or
resident status.
It’s a process that takes several years, Kenney said as critics suggest
his comments are upsetting to the majority of law-abiding immigrants.
Canada has removed or denied admittance to more than 600 former permanent
residents linked to fraud and denied about 500 citizenship applications for not
meeting residence requirements.
“We
will continue to take strong measures to combat the industry of crooked
immigration agents here and abroad who seek to devalue Canadian citizenship by
creating fake proof of residency and committing other forms of fraud,” Kenney
said.
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A now-retired
school bus monitor who was tormented by teenaged bullies has visited Toronto to
pick up a check for $703,000 as the result of an international humanitarian
gesture.
Karen
Klein, 68, of Greece, N.Y., said she was overwhelmed by the response to Toronto
nutritionist Max Sidorov’s attempt to raise $5,000 to send her on a vacation.
Sidorov,
25, said he felt compelled to help Klein after watching a video of her being
taunted and threatened by middle school students on a bus last June.
The fund-raising website Indiegogo said there were more than 30,000
people in 84 countries donating to help Klein.
Some of the money is to be used for anti-bullying measures and for work
with special-needs children, she said.
Klein decided not to pursue the arrests of the four bullies who have
been suspended from school for a year.
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News
in brief:
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A Quebec court has ruled the Canadian government improperly ordered the
dismantling of the national long-gun registry. The ruling is a victory for the
Quebec government that wants to keep the registry information for the province.
Judge Marc-Andre Blanchard of the Quebec Superior Court gave the federal government
30 days to hand over the registry data.
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Students are going deeper into debt as university tuition fees are becoming
less affordable, a report from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives said.
Since 1990, tuition and fees for undergraduates have risen by 6.2 percent a
year, it found. The average cost to study at a Canadian university now is $6,186
a year plus the cost of housing, food and books. Fees range from lows in Newfoundland
at $2,861 and Quebec’s $3,278 to Ontario at $7,513 and Alberta’s $7,061.
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Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar has soared to 1.0325 in U.S. funds while the
greenback dropped to 98.84 cents Canadian before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is unchanged at 1 percent while
the prime-lending rate is 3 percent.
Stock
markets are higher, with the Toronto exchange index at 12,508 points and the
TSX Venture index 1,316 points.
Lotto 6-49: (Sept. 12) 3, 29, 33, 36, 39 and 45; bonus 37. (Sept. 8) 1, 4, 6, 24, 26 and 29; bonus 12. Lotto
Max: (Sept. 7) 11, 14, 18, 20, 37, 41 and 46; bonus 8.
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Regional briefs:
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Former Alberta Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed, credited with transforming
the western province into a “modern petro-powered giant,” has died at age 84.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Calgary-born lawyer who was premier from
1971 to 1985 was “one of the most remarkable Canadians of his generation.”
Lougheed’s grandfather, James, was a member of the Senate and served as a
minister in the governments of prime ministers Robert Borden and Arthur
Meighen.
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The clean-up continues in Newfoundland after post-tropical storm Leslie slammed
the island with hurricane-force winds and heavy rain. The Canadian Hurricane
Center said the storm made landfall in Fortune while roofs were torn off houses
in St. Johns and trees toppled. Power was off for several hours for about
100,000 customers in St. John’s and across the Avalon Peninsula. There were no
reports of serious injuries or major evacuations.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
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