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The Name change game: Registry Ontario 1, Linus 0

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Linus Posted in Politics, transition .

Wow. I’m kinda blown away. I talked with Service Ontario, the customer service arm of the Province of Ontario’s Government Agencies. In order to get my name changed, apparently, I need to have the name change verified, signed and embossed stamped by a Commissioner. And it MUST say Commissioner. Really!? Man. Talk about asinine. This highlights society’s dependency on labels rather than what the person is about. I recognize that you can’t just have anyone sign but having such a narrow definition of who an authority is just takes the cake.

This will mean another visit to Canada next year and that actually won’t be fun since it’ll likely be before or during our move to Los Angeles. Maybe I can visit my cousin out West and turn it into a mini-vacation or something. That or perhaps Montreal to visit my aunt and uncle there. This will mean a longer time before email is changed (they won’t change it until my SSN is changed and that can’t change until the work visa is and that can’t change.. ).

I was pissed enough to send a note to the Premier and Service Ontario. I doubt that anything will come out of it but at least I voiced my concern and perhaps started the seed to get this changed. I contacted my lawyer with TDLEF who helped me and he was shocked. The comment that a Commissioner is higher than a Court Judge highlights how silly this situation is. See my letter below.

I did a bit of search and found an entity known as a Commissioner of Deeds. It sounds kinda like a Notary of sorts. Hopefully, I can get this done either early next week or the week after. And then re-submit. Fingers crossed yet again.

Dear Premier,

I’m rather miffed about my home province and the legal rigeramole that I have to go through to get a name change. It’s not to say that it should be easy but it’s frustrating that I went through a legal process that is recognized in NY and yet, is not recognized by Registry Ontario because the City Clerk
s Title was City Clerk and not Commissioner.

Why we are dependent on it being specifically “Commissioner” and we don’t recognize a legal court system’s process is beyond me and creates unnecessary challenges. I tend to fall into a category that is unusual as I have no driver’s license (Ontario had great public transit when I was growing up so never made sense) and no other ID other than my passport.

In order to get my passport changed, I need to get both my Birth Certificate and SIN card change. If I lived in Ontario, this wouldn’t be that challenging but since I live in NYC (because of work and life), I’m left at the mercy of both Canada and US Postal services and no mechanism to expedite things to make my life a bit easier. As a transgendered individual this puts undo stress and challenges on me as I continue through life.

I implore you to consider a slight change to include a civil judge or city clerk (with embossed stamp) as other acceptable mechanisms for name changes.

Regards,

2 Comments
Tags: cross border, government crap, name change .
« I lurve my company and am annoyed by Ontario Gov’t..
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2 Responses

  1. TICKLEBEAR says
    October 28, 2009 at 9:47 am

    since we must register a website, i’ve linked my most “innocent” one…
    this said, i see you got entangled in the usual red tape tug of war.
    you need to change this but you need this form. to get this form, you need to change that,
    & to change that you need… you need… you need!!
    have you tried, since you’re in NYC the canadian embassy or consulate or whatever they have over there. someone in charge there oughta be able to help you. otherwise, i’d see these people as a huge waste of [canadian] money…
    good luck to you, eh!!
    HUGZ_TICKLEBEAR

  2. Linus says
    October 30, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    Well, it cost me nothing to do the name change itself here in NYC and it only costs me when they issue the new birth certificate. I’ll be contacting the embassy on Monday and then try to visit them the week after to see if they have a Commissioner on site.

    And you don’t have to register a website nor does your website have to be tame. 😉 I’m very open about life in general and prefer that people present as much or as little about themselves that they want to.

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