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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:26 am Post subject: Sikh name-change letter challenged on Facebook |
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Sikh name-change letter challenged on Facebook
1 hour, 16 minutes ago
Sikh groups angry about a controversial government letter requesting name changes for Sikh immigrants have taken their fight to the popular social networking website Facebook.
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At least five online groups dedicated to discussing the government letter, which asked people with the common Sikh surnames Singh and Kaur to change their last names before coming to Canada, have been created.
Kupreet Singh, an administrator for one of the groups protesting the letter, said his forum has already attracted more than 400 members.
He said the online members are proof that Canadians are dissatisfied with Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley's response last week. A spokesman from her department told CBC News a letter from the Canadian High Commission stating "the names Kaur and Singh do not qualify for the purpose of immigration to Canada" was not government policy and was "poorly worded."
Finley added that the letter did not demand that people named Singh or Kaur change their names, but was actually a request for them to add a surname in order to help the department be more efficient.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/30072007/3/canada-sikh-name-change-letter-challenged-facebook.html
[Well, if they don't want to accomodate the government, then they have to expect delays in getting their applications accepted with so many Sikhs having the name Singh. I can understand them getting incensed, but then they also get upset with the delays. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:56 am Post subject: |
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| When CBC News first asked about the letter, immigration officials said the policy to ask for a third name was put in place 10 years ago. |
It's just common sense that when you file any government forms, you should always use your full name. John Wilson Smith. It helps keep confusion and mistakes down. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| Quote: |
| When CBC News first asked about the letter, immigration officials said the policy to ask for a third name was put in place 10 years ago. |
It's just common sense that when you file any government forms, you should always use your full name. John Wilson Smith. It helps keep confusion and mistakes down. |
Not every culture or country requires or encourages a middle name....
In any event, they aren't asking for a middle name, they were "asking" them to change their last name, which seems weird to me. I mean, I'm American and I'd bet that people named Smith would be mad if someone asked them to change their last name because it was too common. Add a religious background to the name and all hell would break loose....
Here's a dictionary definition of "surname"
function:
noun
Date:
14th century
1 : an added name derived from occupation or other circumstance : nickname 1
2 : the name borne in common by members of a family
Here's another article that states clearly that they wanted the last names changed
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Canada_drops_imigration_policy_of_Sikh_surname/rssarticleshow/2237206.cms
| Quote: |
The Canadian government has reversed a decade-old policy that forced Indians with the last name Singh or Kaur to change their surnames to apply to immigrate.
For the past 10 years, the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi told Indians wishing to immigrate to Canada that the religious Sikh surnames were too common to process quickly and that a name change would be required.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada said on Wednesday it was canceling the policy, after The World Sikh Organization raised the issue on Tuesday.
Immigration authorities said the policy was a misunderstanding based on a �poorly worded'' letter. |
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