A New Brunswick tradesman is back in the province after working in Alberta for more than a decade, but he says without a birth certificate, he’s being denied a driver’s licence.
Michael Richard was born in Quebec, but was never issued a birth certificate. His family baptized him eight months later in Fredericton, and he says when he previously held a New Brunswick licence, that’s all he needed.
Now, despite having his baptismal certificate, current Alberta licence, a New Brunswick trade licence, apprenticeship licence, marriage certificate, and even a newly registered New Brunswick Medicare number (he points out the letter from Medicare also includes his birth date), he’s being denied a licence. Being being denied a licence means he can’t work, Richard says.
“The New Brunswick government won’t give me my driver license … because I don’t have a birth certificate,” Richard said.
“They say, ‘Tradespeople, you know, they leave.’ Well, here’s one that’s trying to come back and this is the way you treat me after paying taxes in this province for 20-some years? I think it’s absolutely asinine,” Richard said.
Richard said he wants to stay in New Brunswick with his family, but may end up going back to Alberta if things aren’t resolved quickly. He said he’s “disgusted” and “feels betrayed” by how he’s been treated during his attempt to return home, adding that he feels it shouldn’t be this complicated. He said he hopes the province will consider changing its “stringent policy” and make it easier for people to come back to the province.
“They told me years ago, ‘Go to school, get a trade — so I did, right? And when work slowed down, I left,” Richard said. “I want to come back, but you see… my hands are tied.”
Opposition MLA Jody Carr, who represents Richard’s riding of Oromocto-Lincoln-Fredericton, said it shouldn’t be such a difficult process for someone to move back to the province.
“New Brunswick needs to open our arms to people to move back and to welcome people here to our province,” Carr said. “The system does not need to be this complicated, and reading through the Motor Vehicle Act, I believe that there is an easy solution to fixing the situation — a much easier solution to allow him to live here.”
Carr said she was discouraged to hear of Richard’s situation. He said he had spoken with Richard and his sister over the past few days, and had reached out to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to get more information.
In an email statement from Department of Justice and Public Safety director of communications Paul Bradley, he said that while the the province doesn’t comment on specific cases, because licences are a “trusted source of identity” used by other governments and organizations in relation to program eligibility, the government has “become more prudent” in the documents they accept for proving a person’s identity, “especially in the wake of events that unfolded on September 11, 2001.”
“Due to the importance of a driver’s licence for identification purposes, there are a limited number of documents residents can provide to prove their identity including: an enhanced Canadian driver’s licence or valid Canadian passport, a driving permit from the Department of National Defense or a Secure Certificate of Indian Status,” Bradley wrote.
He said that while baptismal certificates were accepted in the past, the province hasn’t accepted them “for a number of years.” Bradley said when it comes to proof of legal name and birth date, the information was sometimes incorrect or didn’t display the person’s full legal name.
“If a client does not have the necessary documentation to prove identity, there is an adjudication process whereby the Department of Justice and Public Safety’s Motor Vehicle branch will review the case for final approval or denial,” Bradley wrote.
He said the Motor Vehicle Act allows the registrar to destroy records after five years, and said it’s “very possible” the records may have been deleted.