New driver's licences coming to Yukon
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 | 3:26 PM CT
CBC News
A Yukon driver's licence currently consists of a photograph on a card that is then laminated. That technology was new in the 1970s, the territorial government conceded Wednesday. (CBC)Those "vintage-looking" driver's licences Yukoners carry in their wallets will soon be replaced by modern cards with more security features, the territorial government announced Wednesday.
The government will spend about $500,000 on new technology to produce new driver's licence and government identification cards, which will come out starting as early as next summer.
The revamped cards will meet national and international proof-of-identity standards, Community Services Minister Archie Lang said in a release.
"It looks like it's a positive step. It's certainly going to be better than the driver's licences that we've been used to," Liberal MLA Don Inverarity told CBC News on Wednesday.
Over the past two years, Inverarity has been pushing the Yukon government to update the territory's driver's licences, which currently consist of a Polaroid picture pasted to card stock that is then laminated.
Those cards have led to numerous complaints from Yukoners that their licences are not accepted in many places, both inside and outside the territory.
For example, Inverarity said police in southern Canadian cities have asked Yukoners if they made their laminated-paper licences themselves.
In his release, Lang acknowledged that the new ID cards "will eliminate difficulties Yukon citizens have faced when using their current licence in other jurisdictions."
The modern cards, to be made of plastic, will be produced using "dye diffusion thermal transfer" technology, which the government says will prevent the cards from being forged or tampered with.
Inverarity applauded the government not only for committing to produce modern, secure driver's licences, but also for doing so at a relatively low cost.
"It is a good price," he said. "Originally when I was looking at this, I had been told that it was going to cost somewhere in the $2 million range."
While the new driver's licences will meet international standards, the government says the cards will not be accepted as travel documents for crossing international borders.
"It appears that it's not going to go as far as being able to use it to go into the United States. But that's OK; you know, that's what passports are for," Inverarity said.
