What personalized licence plates are being rejected in Manitoba?

Personalized licence plates are everywhere in Manitoba – on the backs of cars, trucks and SUVs.

And while numerous personalized plates are given the green light annually, some of them are sent straight to the scrapyard.

According to Manitoba Public Insurance, there are various reasons a plate may be rejected. For some, the reasoning is obvious.

“MPI has a Personalized Licence Plate Review Committee which assesses all potentially offensive/questionable applications,” MPI told CityNews in a statement. “The committee meets and discusses these applications on a regular basis. We don’t track rejected claims, but rather we use our guidelines to determine eligibility and approval for each request.”

Anything considered profane or abusive will never fly under the “Friendly Manitoba” banner, nor will anything discriminatory, violent, or religious.

Some examples of rejected plates by MPI include phrases like WE4P0N, WARPIG, ARSNAL or swear words that use numbers instead of letters.

MPI says it doesn’t know how many plates are rejected each year.

Despite the price tag of $100 per personalized plate, one car mechanic says he’s seeing more and more of them.

“I think I see more, especially on the collector ones, like the ones with the collector plate on them, I see the brand and the model year,” said Milan Paskas, the owner of Frank Motors.

Paskas says it seems like more people are trying to put a bit of themselves into their ride.

“With some older cars it was like their dream car when they were younger and finally, they’ve had some money and they’re buying these older cars and it’s just for the sentimental thing, I think that’s the main thing,” he said.

Paskas says he feels it’s important what goes on licence plates is acceptable for everyone who might find themselves on the road, saying it might not be just the sentimental value that keeps people putting their own personal touch on their ride, especially if it’s a unique or family name.

“Easier to remember, if you ask me,” said Paskas. “I wouldn’t know my licence plate right now, but if it was my last name, I’d probably remember it.”