位ug史al蓹s K害羞草研究所檃la害羞草研究所檃sk Shaw now has his name on his birth certificate.

It only took 13 months of his Campbell River parents害羞草研究所� wrestling with B.C.害羞草研究所檚 Vital Statistics agency and then finally taking them to court to make it happen.

害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e super excited and, like, really happy to have received this,害羞草研究所� 位ug史al蓹s害羞草研究所� mother, Crystal Smith, said. 害羞草研究所淏ut we害羞草研究所檙e also really wanting to make sure that it害羞草研究所檚 an opportunity for everyone to get 害羞草研究所� all Indigenous mothers and adults.害羞草研究所�

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害羞草研究所檚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害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所渢he place where people were blessed.害羞草研究所�

But when they went to register the name using the province害羞草研究所檚 online registration system, it wouldn害羞草研究所檛 accept the Kwak害羞草研究所檞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害羞草研究所檛 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害羞草研究所檚 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害羞草研究所� name that would be acceptable to the system but Smith and Shaw were not willing to compromise, saying at the time, 害羞草研究所淵eah, I害羞草研究所檓 done compromising. Indigenous people have been compromising since colonization happened.害羞草研究所�

After more months of Vital Statistics 害羞草研究所渄ragging their feet,害羞草研究所� the couple took the agency to court. They filed a petition on Oct. 5, 2022, with the B.C. Supreme Court challenging the agency害羞草研究所檚 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害羞草研究所檚 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害羞草研究所檛 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害羞草研究所檛 something the agency should be patting themselves on the back about.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 something that should have been done long time ago,害羞草研究所� Smith said. 害羞草研究所淲e shouldn害羞草研究所檛 have had to fight. We shouldn害羞草研究所檛 have had to wait this long.害羞草研究所�

It害羞草研究所檚 not even a step in the right direction, she said, they害羞草研究所檙e really just 害羞草研究所渢urning to the right direction.害羞草研究所�

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.

害羞草研究所淪o, once we get our certificate, we害羞草研究所檒l be applying for a passport and we害羞草研究所檙e like 90 per cent sure we害羞草研究所檙e going to get denied,害羞草研究所� Smith said. 害羞草研究所淥nce they deny us, we害羞草研究所檒l take them to court as well.害羞草研究所�

In the meantime, they savour this victory and look forward to everybody benefitting from it.

害羞草研究所淏ut there害羞草研究所檚 a lot more work to be done and, yeah, it needs to be for everyone, not just 位ug史al蓹s.害羞草研究所�

editor@campbellrivermirror.com
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