位ug史al蓹s K香蕉视频直播檃la香蕉视频直播檃sk Shaw now has his name on his birth certificate.

It only took 13 months of his Campbell River parents香蕉视频直播� wrestling with B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 Vital Statistics agency and then finally taking them to court to make it happen.

香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e super excited and, like, really happy to have received this,香蕉视频直播� 位ug史al蓹s香蕉视频直播� mother, Crystal Smith, said. 香蕉视频直播淏ut we香蕉视频直播檙e also really wanting to make sure that it香蕉视频直播檚 an opportunity for everyone to get 香蕉视频直播� all Indigenous mothers and adults.香蕉视频直播�

位ug史al蓹s was born in Jan. 12, 2022 and Smith and her partner Raymond Shaw went to register him and obtain a birth certificate in February 2022.

Smith and Shaw had planned to give 位ug史al蓹s a traditional name since before he was born. Shaw is Wei Wai Kum (Campbell River), Smith is Tsym香蕉视频直播檚yen and Haisla and has been adopted into the Heiltsuk Nation.

They had discussed the possibility of a traditional name with the head of Shaw香蕉视频直播檚 family. They were particularly interested in a place name from somewhere in the Wei Wai Kum territory. When 位ug史al蓹s was born, they settled on a name of a mountain in Loughborough Inlet that translates to 香蕉视频直播渢he place where people were blessed.香蕉视频直播�

But when they went to register the name using the province香蕉视频直播檚 online registration system, it wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 accept the Kwak香蕉视频直播檞ala characters in the name. So, they sent in a paper copy of the application but that attempt ran into a technical glitch and so they had to re-do it. During the second attempt they pointed out the correspondence had spelled the name wrong. Smith offered to email the name with the proper lettering but was told by the staff member that they couldn香蕉视频直播檛 do that. So, she spelled it all out and the employee wrote that down and said it would take a couple of weeks.

But on March 3, 2022, they received a letter from Registrar General Jack Shewchuk saying the proposed name contravened the Vital Statistics Agency香蕉视频直播檚 current naming standards which only recognizes the standard letters in the Latin alphabet, the standard set of French characters (the acute and grave accents, the circumflex, the umlaut and cedilla) and the use of apostrophes, periods and hyphens as long as they are not next to each other or lead to confusion in interpretation.

READ MORE:

The agency offered variations on 位ug史al蓹s香蕉视频直播� name that would be acceptable to the system but Smith and Shaw were not willing to compromise, saying at the time, 香蕉视频直播淵eah, I香蕉视频直播檓 done compromising. Indigenous people have been compromising since colonization happened.香蕉视频直播�

After more months of Vital Statistics 香蕉视频直播渄ragging their feet,香蕉视频直播� the couple took the agency to court. They filed a petition on Oct. 5, 2022, with the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the agency香蕉视频直播檚 refusal on constitutional grounds.

A birth must be registered before the parents may apply for a birth certificate, which is, in turn, required to apply for other important documents like a social insurance number or a passport.

Earlier this year, Vital Statistics contacted the couple香蕉视频直播檚 lawyers to negotiate a solution and avoid taking the issue to court. A deal was worked out that gives 位ug史al蓹s a birth certificate with his full and proper name and Vital Statistics gets six months to roll out a system that allows everyone to use traditional names. If they don香蕉视频直播檛 do that after six months, the couple can take them back to court.

The couple is happy about their success but Smith emphasizes that this isn香蕉视频直播檛 something the agency should be patting themselves on the back about.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 something that should have been done long time ago,香蕉视频直播� Smith said. 香蕉视频直播淲e shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 have had to fight. We shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 have had to wait this long.香蕉视频直播�

It香蕉视频直播檚 not even a step in the right direction, she said, they香蕉视频直播檙e really just 香蕉视频直播渢urning to the right direction.香蕉视频直播�

And now that 位ug史al蓹s is getting his birth certificate, his family is preparing for the next bureaucratic battle. This time with the federal passport office.

香蕉视频直播淪o, once we get our certificate, we香蕉视频直播檒l be applying for a passport and we香蕉视频直播檙e like 90 per cent sure we香蕉视频直播檙e going to get denied,香蕉视频直播� Smith said. 香蕉视频直播淥nce they deny us, we香蕉视频直播檒l take them to court as well.香蕉视频直播�

In the meantime, they savour this victory and look forward to everybody benefitting from it.

香蕉视频直播淏ut there香蕉视频直播檚 a lot more work to be done and, yeah, it needs to be for everyone, not just 位ug史al蓹s.香蕉视频直播�

editor@campbellrivermirror.com
Like us on and follow us on