Star Trek fan to beam battle against MPI into court

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This article was published 12/07/2017 (3022 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A WINNIPEG man is taking his fight to court, hoping to reclaim a personalized licence plate disallowed by Manitoba Public Insurance.

Nicholas Troller, an avid Star Trek fan, had been driving around since 2015 with Manitoba licence plate ASIMIL8 — a play on part of a catchphrase from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation in which an enemy race of aliens (the Borg) try to assimilate other cultures into their own.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a national non-profit legal group, said Tuesday it intends to file a court application against MPI on behalf of Troller after the Crown corporation informed him the word “assimilate” is offensive to Indigenous people.

In its initial contact with Troller, MPI told him he was to turn in the plate by May 1.

JCCF president John Carpay, who spoke on behalf of Troller, said revoking the plate was in “violation of Mr. Troller’s Charter-protected right to freedom of expression.”

“The problem is the idea that some people have that we are somehow entitled to go through life without seeing or hearing things that we find offensive. That is a big threat to freedom of expression,” Carpay said. “If I have a right to not be offended, then you don’t have a right to free speech. If you have a right to not be offended, then I don’t have a right to free speech.”

He said the JCCF would be filing a request for a judicial review by the end of July. In a judicial review, the court would be asked to set aside MPI’s decision to deny the licence plate to Troller.

Troller had mounted the licence plate on his family vehicle inside a Star Trek-branded frame bearing the phrases “We are the Borg” and “Resistance is Futile,” which are portions of the fictional Borg instructions to hapless species about to be overtaken: “We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. You will be assimilated; resistance is futile.”

In a July 7 letter to the JCCF, MPI stated: “The word ‘assimilate’ has become closely associated with the harm occasioned by the Indian residential schools system” and that historical context is why the plate was being recalled.

It referenced former prime minister Stephen Harper’s apology to Indigenous people on behalf of the Canadian government, as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report, both of which use “assimilation” in describing the cultural genocide to which Indigenous people were subjected.

Ry Moran, director of the Winnipeg-based National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, agreed the word “assimilate” is offensive and should not be on a licence plate.

“For basically the entirety of this country’s history, Indigenous peoples have been forcibly assimilated through really extremely destructive means and ways,” Moran told The Canadian Press. “Words like that, meant or not, have an actual impact on many people.”

Carpay said Troller first learned of the problem April 27, when he received a letter from MPI, which informed him the licence plate was considered offensive and he had until May 1 to surrender it.

In late May, the JCCF sent a letter on Troller’s behalf asking MPI reinstate the licence plate.

MPI responded July 7, stating it made an error to allow the plate in the first place. Once the error was recognized, it had valid grounds to revoke the plate.

The letter said MPI would issue another Star Trek-themed plate to Troller at no charge, but “is unable to reinstate” the first personalized plate.

According to MPI policy, “The Registrar of Motor Vehicles reserves the right to recall personalized licence plates that are later deemed to be inappropriate.”

There is no appeal process.

Meanwhile, Troller has acquired a new Star Trek-themed licence plate: COLECTV. A well-known episode of the Star Trek: Voyager television show is titled Collective and a fan website promoting Star Trek news is called The Trek Collective.

Troller declined to be interviewed by the Free Press.

MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said the Crown corporation’s position in the matter was “clearly stated in the letter to the customer” and there would be no further comment on the matter due to “possible legal proceedings impending.”

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca