MONTREAL - It's pretty clear to me.

If you lie to get into Canada, if you become a citizen of our country under false and misleading circumstances, then we have every right to send you back, no matter how long you have been here.

So, good work Jason Kenney. The federal minister is revoking the citizenship of some 1,800 people because they became Canadians by fraudulent means: false records, outright lies and manufactured legends.

There will be due process here. So they will have a chance to have their say. But it's a good move and a good signal to send out.

You see, Canada is seen as a pretty soft touch on the international scene.

We have a reputation as being easy and up until now we have been.

But if you lied to get your Canadian citizenship, you should forfeit it.

There is much work to be done in other areas too.

There are too many Canadians of convenience. There are so-called bolt-holers, named for secret routes that animals use to escape when it becomes too hot or dangerous.

Canadian passports are the ticket out. These are Canadians who do not work here or pay taxes. They live elsewhere and hold our passport for emergency situations.

It happened in 2006 and will happen again.

Now, most newcomers to Canada value citizenship beyond belief. They know it is something to be cherished. Our doors should always be wide open for the ones who come here legally and meet our standards and our values.

Call centre shame

There was no sense of value or integrity with the midnight move and shut down of a big call centre.

Twelve hundred Canadians who worked at New York-based IQT Solutions were left high and dry when the company closed its doors.

No notice, no severance, nothing.

This is a company that the Quebec government gave more than a half million dollars to help set up here.

We should get our money back and be very careful about who we try to seduce with taxpayer money.

And we must find some legal means to help the workers get their due.

The fact is, in Montreal we have 450 people struggling to make a living that just got knocked down and never knew what hit them. They deserve better

Why abandon the cranes?

Well, it is that time of year: that only-in-Quebec annual construction holiday.

My question is why?

Why do we need to shut down the province for two weeks at arguably the best time of the year to actually construct? Yet work sites are shut down and nothing moves.

Even the workers themselves aren't being given a choice. Maybe they would prefer a couple of weeks in mid February.

Beaches and campgrounds will be crowded.

And with so many people on the road, accidents increase and more people die.

Perhaps it was a good idea years ago but nowadays it smacks too a much nanny state with far too little choice.