Re A joke with no punchline (the News, February 13):
The Yukon driver’s licence is a joke to everyone outside of the Yukon. Whenever I show a non-Yukoner my licence they laugh, some because it is funny, some out of disbelief.
I have had police officers in other parts of Canada ask me what this piece of ID that I just gave them is.
“What is this? A student ID card or something?” I then had to assure the officer (in British Columbia) that this was indeed my driver’s licence and that I could not make a copy of my student ID without specialized equipment.
He graciously let me go after checking that I did have a Yukon licence plate, but I think he still didn’t believe that the ID I had showed him was a valid driver’s licence. I often wonder what would have happened if I encountered a police officer who was not so understanding.
It would seem not only people from outside the Yukon are confused by our driver’s licences. Bouncers in Whitehorse have told my friend and me that our licences were fake, which they were not. They would still not believe that we were 19, even after showing them our health-care cards or birth certificates.
They wanted a real piece of ID, a federal passport or Firearms Acquisition Certificate, or a parent to vouch for us in order to get our licences back. My friend had to drive home, but how could he do that without his driver’s licence? I do understand that the bouncers at all the local bars have to deal with a lot of forged licences, but I’m sure they let in as many, or more forged licences than the number of valid licences that they turn away.
We need to have a licence that we can count on to use as it should be, and not one that can be misused so easily by everyone with a laser printer, scanner and a laminator. Our licences have become a joke to everyone but the Yukoners who have to use them on a daily basis. In Whitehorse we have one Department of Motor Vehicles with one machine that creates our licences. Is it really worth the cost?
Zachary Rittel
Whitehorse