Doug Embree thinks it’s time to go back to having official licence plates on both the front as well as the back of cars in Nova Scotia.
The Springhill retiree says it’s one way to deal with potentially offensive novelty plates some people put on the front of their vehicles.
“Here in my hometown, there is a man that drives with MAFIA on his licence plate, and that’s disturbed me for a number of years,” Embree said in a recent interview. “And another one recently (has) the name for a female dog which starts with a B, so what can I say?
“I think (these) things are whacky.”
Marla McInnis, spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal, said in an emailed statement that while personalized official licence plates are subject to approval by the Registry of Motor Vehicles, novelty ones are not.
“Similar to bumper stickers, vanity plates that are purchased commercially and placed on the front of a vehicle are not regulated by the province,” she said.
For Embree, a complaint-driven enforcement mechanism about offensive novelty plates is not the route he prefers.
“I think if you talk to our MLAs, we could possibly get licence plates back on the front of our cars, a proper Nova Scotia licence plate with our flag or a picture of Peggys Cove lighthouse or something artistic, but stupidity to the nth degree, I just don’t get it.
“There are so many educated people in Nova Scotia, what is the problem?”
A Google search for “offensive novelty licence plates” turned up a number of links to readily available online vendors.
Their wares include a variety of items ranging from designs like a raised middle finger or parts of the human anatomy usually contained in underwear to common swear words.
Also available online are variations on the U.S. Confederate flag, a symbol that now is recognized as racist, says poet, activist and educator El Jones.
“The Confederate flag is not ambiguous,” Jones said in a telephone interview. “So I think, that is very clearly, as much as some people try to argue it’s just the Dukes of Hazzard or it’s the symbol of being a rebel, we know that the roots of the Confederate flag are in the slavery South and the Confederate flag has certainly appeared at a number of hate rallies.
“It shouldn’t be controversial to say that ‘No, you can’t have a Confederate licence plate.’”
It’s tricky when it comes to deciding what is free speech in private space and what is not, however, she said.
Heather Fairbairn, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said in an emailed statement that the Charter of Rights does guarantee freedom of expression.
“However, that freedom is not absolute. Under section 319 of Canada’s Criminal Code, public displays of statements or images that communicate hatred against any identifiable group is an indictable criminal offence,” she said.
“If someone feels another person has committed an offence under CCC. S. 319, they should contact the police.”
Halifax Regional Police and Nova Scotia RCMP confirmed that authorities can investigate complaints of alleged hate speech on novelty plates. Statistics were not immediately available.
Embree doesn’t believe it should have to go through a legal process.
“It’s so plain and simple,” he said. “It will help the police and the emergency people and, look, we’ve had them for years and years and years and to think that we’re trying to save a buck by not having them is not working. It’s not logical.”
New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia require official licence plates on both the front and back of vehicles. But New Brunswick announced in March that it is dropping the requirement this month and Ontario is considering it.
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