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Letter: Francophones have been fighting this ongoing battle

Service Ontario and other provinces are ignoring traditional French-Catholic baptismal name that follows the centuries-old religious tradition of naming boys after Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Jesus
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A Service Ontario location.

To the editor:

Service Ontario and other provinces are ignoring traditional French-Catholic baptismal naming that follows the centuries-old religious tradition of naming boys after Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Service Ontario says if you want your name "changed" you would have to legally change your name.

Service Ontario's intransigence signals the provincial government's ignorance of and disrespect for Franco-Ontarian traditions, particularly Catholic ones.

Why is it the province is not obligated to follow the rules for each religion, nationality?

PASSPORTS - applicants can choose to drop or invert one or multiple given names from [their birth] certificate, provided the name requested for printing on the passport is supported by the name on another acceptable piece of identification, such as a driver's licence.

AS PER their website

"A Birth Certificate is one of the most important vital documents that any person should have and will be required at several points through a person’s life.  The general purpose a Birth Certificate serves is to identify a person.  The document tells the person's name, date of birth and where they were born.  A Birth Certificate also serves as basic proof of citizenship and is often required as identification for government services or applying for other personal documents."

Created by the Vital Statistics Council for Canada (VSCC) in conjunction with forensic document experts from the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canadian Passport Office, Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd., the new Canadian Birth Certificates will be one of the most secure documents in the world.

It is through historical circumstances that Canada does not have a national Birth Certificate policy.  Births were typically registered with local parishes serving small municipalities. That is why the municipal government still acts as an intermediary between a newborn child and the provincial government.  It is only recently that the role of the church as record keeper of important events such as births, deaths, and marriages has been taken over by the provincial government.

SO WHY is SERVICE Ontario not obligated to follow the process when registering the certificate as registered at the hospital following the guidelines of that family?

The government should have some way to restore the order of the names and recognize it.

Reclaim a traditional Indigenous name

If you are a survivor of a residential school, you and your family can reclaim your Indigenous name.

You can also change to a single name, if it is part of your traditional culture or your child’s traditional culture.

You will not be charged a fee for a name change from now until March 31, 2024.

Jannine Perron