Another Peace-bringing solution from Todd

Well Steve O said that I get a little political sometimes in the blog, and I had an idea while reading today- so I guess it is political time!

Reading the Vancouver news online today, I noticed a little article (here) where Canadian immigration officials are asking Sikhs named Singh and Kaur to change their names. The reasoning is that it will avoid any confusions as there are too many applicants with the same name.

Predictably, this is causing an outrage. Are they going to ask Chinese named Chang to change their names too? The final answer is completely ignorant, lazy and (okay I'll say it -) stupid! Our names are part of who we are, they are more than just a word that hangs around us, they encompass every second, every year of our lives. To callously say "you must change your name to come into our country" is just the wrong answer to a problem.

This is not to say I don't understand the problem encountered by immigration. There must be an incredible amount of confusion, and as recent statistics suggest, Indians are becoming the #1 immigrant into Canada recently- the problem will only grow bigger.

In such times the best answer is to come up with a timely, inoffensive solution to the problem. To adapt to the system around the issues in a way that is just and fair for all involved. My thoughts are it's time to create a new system- called the Canadian Identification Name [CIN]. The people get to keep their names as their true identity, but they have to take an extra step and in advance fill out registration paperwork with the Canadian embassy or immigration authority to register a special name that will uniquely identify them. Of course, the Canadian government can charge a fee to the applicants to cover the costs of implementing the new system (and probably make a little money) and they will basically have this name added into the Canadian database so that it is a separate word, that they can proudly hold with their new Canadian identity. In police reports their names can turn up like this: Gobhinder Singh (Paul). The government would include a fingerprinting in the application process, so that they can easily be cross referenced to their new CIN should trouble arise. They can also regulate the usage of the names - like a website regulates nickname usage (though I don't think he will pick Paul89 if that moniker is already taken) so there is no repetition.

Thank you very much! Canadian government please remember to send my royalty check for this idea to my address in Japan!