A New Brunswick tradesman who was set to head back to Alberta in the next few weeks if he continued to be denied a provincial driver’s licence has received that piece of identification.
Michael Richard first spoke with Global News on May 11 and had been told he couldn’t get back his New Brunswick licence because he didn’t have his birth certificate, only a baptismal record.
READ MORE: New Brunswick man ‘disgusted’ with bureaucratic nightmare over driver’s licence
Richard was born in Quebec, but was never issued a birth certificate. Eight months later, he was baptized in Fredericton. He says when he previously held a provincial licence, the baptismal certificate was all he needed.
When he spoke with Global News, even with the certificate, a current Alberta licence, a New Brunswick trade licence, apprenticeship licence, marriage certificate and even a newly registered New Brunswick Medicare number — which includes his birth date — he was still denied a licence. As a result, he couldn’t work.
He had planned on leaving for Alberta where he could work, though said he didn’t want to, as his family, who live in New Brunswick, are the most important thing to him.
Almost a month after speaking with Global News, Richard said he got his licence Friday.
He told Global News he got a call from deputy premier Stephen Horsman asking him to come into the office. The two drafted a letter to the correct contact and later received a call that an exception had been made.
READ MORE: New Brunswick tradesman heading back to Alberta over driver’s licence debacle
“I came home and an hour-and-a-half later, I get a phone call that he’s agreed to give me my licence and he put an exemption on my file and [said] ‘Go to Motor Vehicle,’ and I went to Motor Vehicle and they looked up my file and saw the exemption and gave me my New Brunswick driver’s licence,” Richard said.
He said it “made his day.”
“I feel like a kid at Christmas time, which is crazy, but I do,” Richard said. “I just feel great.
“It’s going to be a good weekend, a good week, and I’d like to thank every single person that helped me.”
He hasn’t decided where he’ll drive first but is looking forward to getting behind the wheel of his truck once more.
He added he wants to thank the government because they “did what was right.”