What Is In a Name?

"There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation." - Pierre Trudeau

I could not agree more with that statement. In my mind the state should not meddle in anything other than what is necessary to create and maintain an infrastructure required to allow its citizens to live free - in speech, travel, ideas, employment, art, business, etc. Laws should be limited to those that ensure public safety - physical and of property. All this is true so long as the Earth is organized into units called states. If we ever evolve to another organizational framework my theory might change.

So what am I on about exactly and why?

You already know that we recently moved within Canada, from on province to another. From British Columbia to Quebec. Well, in Quebec there is a 1981 law that forbids a woman from taking her husband's name. This is what triggered this ideeah.

First let me state my position on the topic. A woman should be free to keep her name or to take the name of the woman or man that she has married. In fact she should be free to take on whatever name she wants. I also believe that a man should be free to take on the name of the man or woman that he marries or any other name for that reason. An adult should be able to make this decision and has no right, in my opinion, to make the decision for someone else. We are not the subjects of a king or queen living in some medieval fiefdom or landlord ruled class system. We are citizens of a supposed free land. Governments are way out of bounds when they get involved in name calling.

This has all come to a head as my wife, who happened to decide to adopt my surname upon our marriage in British Columbia, is in the process of requesting all of her official documents from Quebec. Drivers license, health care card, car insurance, car registration, etc. She is being questioned for historical data regarding her driving record, medical record, etc. All of these records exists under one name. Now that she has a different name some are questioning the validity of the historical records. Is there some sort of impostor trying to steal her identity? Is she really who she claims to be?

"Here, madame, in Quebec, you are Mrs X not Mrs Y."

Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Comments

Sleepwalker said…
J'étais à l'hôpital avec grand-maman. On appelle Mme Naude. Évidemment, elle ne sait pas que c'est elle. Elle a porté le nom de son père une vingtaine d'années, mais celui de son mari 70 ans. Oû est la logique?
October 02, 2009
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