Birth certificate refusal has reader fuming

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I am completely appalled upon hearing the news that my uncle’s birth certificate was refused at the Taber licensing and registration office simply because it is in French.

My uncle was born in Quebec, a province that issues all legal documents in French. Yet, even though he is Canadian born and this legal document is in one of our official languages, the clerks at the registry office refused to accept it as a secondary form of ID when he attempted to switch his photo ID to an Alberta-issued card. Their response, when asked, was that they were simply following protocol as an agency of the provincial government.

I am completely disgusted by this. We live in a bilingual country where both French and English are accepted as our country’s official languages, yet an Alberta registry office will refuse to accept a birth certificate from a different province as a second piece of ID simply because it was issued in French. I understand that Alberta is considered to be an English province, however I feel that is no excuse for denying documentation that is in our country’s other official language.

I have sent a letter off to our MLA seeking change, if this really is policy in our province.

NICCI O’GRADY

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