Is B.C. a National Security Risk?

Monday, January 09, 2006 03:35 AM

-by Jack deWit

A friend, who will remain anonymous for obvious reasons, recently went to the Access Center on Fifth Avenue to obtain a new driver’s license. She had moved from Alberta with a valid Alberta driver’s license but it expired in December. Previous to that (just over 5 years ago) she renewed a B.C. driver’s license. This information still remains on the B.C. computer systems including her picture.

This lady moved from a foreign land to B.C. when she was 3-years of age. Her entire schooling was done in B.C. She married in B.C. She delivered 3 children here. Now you would think that it would be easy for her to renew her B.C. license. Not so!

It appears that she must now produce a Canadian Citizenship card. Well after 30 years in Canada this woman considers herself as a Canadian but has misplaced this card; and although she presented a citizenship certificate with her name and the Canadian Citizenship number written in handwriting it was rejected as sufficient information for the Access Center to grant her request for a renewed license.

The clerk stated that the rule is that if you are an immigrant you must provide your National Citizenship Card as proof of identification. I would like to mention that neither the card nor the certificate includes a picture of the holder! She produced the above document, her Alberta license, as well as her marriage license. With that the clerk was able to give her a 90-day temporary license. She must reapply again when she receives her duplicate Citizenship Card. This, by the way, may take 6 months to acquire. Is it any wonder how some creative immigrants to Canada can acquire a driver’s license without even personally making an application? All ICBC requires is this proof of citizenship with a number on it.

Theoretically (the rumour mill claims it happened 8 times in 100 Mile House) it is possible for the same person to go in with another person’s proof of citizenship and obtain a B.C. driver’s license. “Well”, you say, “the picture doesn’t match with the person’s name.” It doesn’t really matter until such time when one is stopped and asked for their B.C. driver’s license. Furthermore, in some cases it is very difficult to match one’s face with a picture if the only identifying features are their eyes. A good makeup artist could disguise any man well enough with a beard and long hair. The holder of the license can then simply claim they got a haircut and shaved. This was not the case with this young lady. She was standing in front of the clerk while the clerk viewed her previous license on the monitor. There was a very distinct similarity, however, that citizenship documentation was more important.

Picture ID is not valid identification to acquire a driver’s license in B.C. Not even a Canadian passport is acceptable. With such incompetence in the government bureaucracies is it any wonder why our government has such difficulty remaining accountable? Moreover, if it is this easy to apply for a driver’s license in B.C., could it not be a national security risk?

By the way, I came to Canada when I was 4-years old, and I too cannot locate my citizenship papers, if I had any. I certainly hope I don’t get the same treatment next time I have to renew my license. I’ve related the story; you form your conclusions.

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Posted on Monday, January 09, 2006 03:35 AM in Views by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: acrider54 on January 9 2006 6:12 AM

It seems the "red tape" has been reduced for the corporate people but us regular people have to go through it for something as stupid as this. If she is still on record with a BC license what is the problem? I know....user fees!

Posted by: diplomat on January 9 2006 8:59 AM

>"Theoretically (the rumour mill claims it happened 8 times in 100 Mile House) it is possible for the same person to go in with another person’s proof of citizenship and obtain a B.C. driver’s license."<

This is very interesting as it suggests that there MAY be a bit of "hanky-panky" going on at a government office in 100 Mile House!

I can see it happening once, perhaps by mistake, but if this is true then the system is flawed.

May I assume that the rumour mill's statements are not to be given any credibility and not to be repeated as they could be injurious to those affected by them?

Posted by: diplomat on January 9 2006 10:01 AM

>"Theoretically it is possible for the same person to go in with another person’s proof of citizenship and obtain a B.C. driver’s license."<

Then again, come to think of it, the system should have every possible safeguard built in, in order to prevent licenses from being issued improperly, be it by error or incompetence.
Does that mean it is at present not strict enough?

How about a sign in the entrance that states: "Anyone found guilty of fraud when applying for/ obtaining a license will not be permitted to apply again before a ten year period has elapsed."

That should do the trick.

Posted by: Mike on January 9 2006 2:22 PM

Certain immigrants are very good at finding loopholes in government policies aren't they? If it is illegal and they are caught, they should be deported with no chance of re-entering Canada. Hopefully one of these days our elected officials will stop sucking up to immagrant voters just to get elected.

Posted by: Chadermando on January 10 2006 12:50 AM

I've heard of cases where you have five immigrants driving one truck around the clock with one license.

I find it hard to believe the identity of one person can be issued with multiple pictures to multiple people.

That said a little common sense should have taken palce by government.

Posted by: Percy on January 10 2006 8:20 PM

Herein lies the problem. Common sense is not part of this process.

Who is responsible for drafting these laws?

Worse yet, who legislated them? You've gotta ask yourself who is responsible for the way things are?

Who are the judges accountable to? We can't let people, whoever they are, to continue to draft up these laws that make it almost impossible to the average, innocent, well intended person to continue to live in this great country while the criminals, the terrorists and the gangs are welcomed with open arms and very little hassles.

One has to give the current and previous governments credit for the current state of our country's laws. Are you happy with things? Do you condone more of the same lunacy? If not, it's time for change. Percy

Posted by: diplomat on January 10 2006 10:43 PM

Percy: "Who are the judges accountable to? "

That is an excellent question.

I know there are certain sentencing guidelines and that the state can appeal if a sentence appears to be totally out of whack, but generally speaking it looks as if judges can do whatever they think is fair and reasonable to them.

Posted by: SpeakingOut on January 11 2006 9:11 AM

One need only witness the recklessness and rudeness of the majority of the "N" drivers to realize how easy it really is to apply for and receive a drivers license in this province. And hey - it's not JUST the "N" drivers either!

The Access Center employee was obviously on a "power trip" with so much common sense staring him/her blatently in the face, however, if the Citizenship card was "misplaced" and had no picture to confirm the correct identity of it's "bearer" perhaps the whereabouts of that card is quite important after all?! It was her responsibility to care for and guard the card and she should accept life might get a bit tough if she can't produce it when required. She should also, as a responsible "Canadian Citizen" attempt to locate the "misplaced" card.