Lorne Grabher is very proud of his unique family name, which comes from German origins. It's displayed on the front of his house, as well as on his personalized licence plate.
"Well, I am the only one in Eastern Canada," says Grabher. "I originally had it done for my father back in 1991 for his birthday. It was to have our name be put on something and be proud of it."
But in December, Grabher received a letter from Nova Scotia’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles, telling him it had received a complaint and had deemed the licence plate 'socially unacceptable.'
"Where does the Province of Nova Scotia and this government have a person with that kind of power to discriminate against my name?" he asks.
The personalized plate was first registered in Nova Scotia. It's since crossed Canada and has been held by three generations of Grabhers, including his son, who lives in Alberta.
Janice Harland, road safety director at the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, responded with the following statement:
"While I recognize this plate was issued as your last name, the public cannot be expected to know this and can misinterpret it as a socially unacceptable slogan."
The Registrar of Motor Vehicles has a long list of words banned from personalized plates - more than 67 pages worth.
"My father was a very proud man, and he always instilled in us that we should be very proud of our name...and this hurts," says Grabher.
Even though Grabher can no longer have his name on his licence plate, he's still showing family pride. He is now considering taking his case to court to get his personalized licence plate back.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl.
