By The Canadian Press
Lorne Grabher displays his personalized licence plate in Dartmouth, N.S. on Friday, March 24, 2017. Lawyers for a Nova Scotia man fighting to have his last name reinstated on a controversial licence plate are due in court today to argue his Charter rights have been violated. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan)
HALIFAX – Lawyers for a Nova Scotia man fighting to have his last name reinstated on a controversial licence plate are due in court today to argue his Charter rights have been violated.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is representing Lorne Grabher, and says the revocation of the personalized plate bearing his last name infringes on his constitutional rights.
Earlier this month, they filed a notice of application with the provincial Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a decision by the Nova Scotia Registrar of Motor Vehicles to cancel the plate, which had been used by the family for 27 years.
The court filings say the name is a point of pride for the family and its Austrian-German heritage, adding that Grabher’s son has used a similar personalized plate in Alberta without question.
The case developed after the registrar said it received a complaint last December over the name and how it could be considered a “socially unacceptable slogan.”
Grabher has said he put his last name on the licence plate decades ago as a gift for his late father’s birthday.
