

Monday, May 15, 2017



HALIFAX, N.S.: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF.ca) has filed a Notice of Application and Affidavit with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on behalf of Dartmouth, N.S. resident Lorne Grabher, whose personalized GRABHER licence plate bearing his surname was deemed “socially unacceptable” by the Nova Scotia Registry of Motor Vehicles (“Registrar”). The plate had been in use by Grabher family members for 27 consecutive years without incident.



Hoping to resolve the matter out of court, the Justice Centre wrote to the Registrar on March 31, 2017, requesting that it reinstate the personalized license plate of Lorne Grabher. On April 6, 2017, the Justice Centre received written confirmation from the Registrar that it would not reissue Mr. Grabher’s plate.



Mr. Grabher first purchased the personalized licence plate as a gift for his late father in 1991. It was a source of family pride, spanning three generations. Lorne Grabher’s son Troy has the family name on his own personalized Alberta licence plate.



In his court application, Lorne Grabher seeks a declaration that the decision to revoke his licence plate violates his Charter section 2(b) right to freedom of expression, as well as his section 15 equality rights, and was furthermore “arbitrary, unreasonable, based on irrelevant considerations, an abuse of authority, a denial of procedural fairness, and otherwise invalid.”



“Mr. Grabher and his family were, and remain, deeply offended and humiliated by the cancellation of the plate, and the Respondent’s ongoing insult to their heritage and family name,” states the application.





Justice Centre selling bumper stickers to raise support, awareness





To raise awareness about this court application, the Justice Centre is selling ‘GRABHER’ bumper stickers. These stickers can be purchased online at www.jccf.ca/grabher. Prices reflect the cost of producing and mailing the bumper stickers, and any profit will be put towards the significant costs of defending Lorne Grabher’s Charter rights.