位ug史al蓹s K含羞草研究社檃la含羞草研究社檃sk Shaw now has his name on his birth certificate.
It only took 13 months of his Campbell River parents含羞草研究社� wrestling with B.C.含羞草研究社檚 Vital Statistics agency and then finally taking them to court to make it happen.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e super excited and, like, really happy to have received this,含羞草研究社� 位ug史al蓹s含羞草研究社� mother, Crystal Smith, said. 含羞草研究社淏ut we含羞草研究社檙e also really wanting to make sure that it含羞草研究社檚 an opportunity for everyone to get 含羞草研究社� all Indigenous mothers and adults.含羞草研究社�
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含羞草研究社檚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含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社渢he place where people were blessed.含羞草研究社�
But when they went to register the name using the province含羞草研究社檚 online registration system, it wouldn含羞草研究社檛 accept the Kwak含羞草研究社檞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含羞草研究社檛 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含羞草研究社檚 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.
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The agency offered variations on 位ug史al蓹s含羞草研究社� name that would be acceptable to the system but Smith and Shaw were not willing to compromise, saying at the time, 含羞草研究社淵eah, I含羞草研究社檓 done compromising. Indigenous people have been compromising since colonization happened.含羞草研究社�
After more months of Vital Statistics 含羞草研究社渄ragging their feet,含羞草研究社� the couple took the agency to court. They filed a petition on Oct. 5, 2022, with the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the agency含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社檛 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含羞草研究社檛 something the agency should be patting themselves on the back about.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 something that should have been done long time ago,含羞草研究社� Smith said. 含羞草研究社淲e shouldn含羞草研究社檛 have had to fight. We shouldn含羞草研究社檛 have had to wait this long.含羞草研究社�
It含羞草研究社檚 not even a step in the right direction, she said, they含羞草研究社檙e really just 含羞草研究社渢urning to the right direction.含羞草研究社�
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.
含羞草研究社淪o, once we get our certificate, we含羞草研究社檒l be applying for a passport and we含羞草研究社檙e like 90 per cent sure we含羞草研究社檙e going to get denied,含羞草研究社� Smith said. 含羞草研究社淥nce they deny us, we含羞草研究社檒l take them to court as well.含羞草研究社�
In the meantime, they savour this victory and look forward to everybody benefitting from it.
含羞草研究社淏ut there含羞草研究社檚 a lot more work to be done and, yeah, it needs to be for everyone, not just 位ug史al蓹s.含羞草研究社�
editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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