re: #722 OldLineTexan

In Alberta, back in 1993, the provincial government privatized the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles. There is very, very little by way of any government oversight. This has led to a number of problems (including schemes which are, in fact, a danger to the public — especially when one has truck drivers not knowing how to drive big rigs, yet have a license to operate these vehicles.) The Edmonton Journal noted the following:

Law enforcement and government sources have told The Journal that van-loads of B.C. residents, most of East Indian descent, have travelled to Alberta from the Lower Mainland [in British Columbia] to get false driver’s licences, especially Class 1 licences that allow them to operate semi-trailer trucks.

Here is how that could be done.

- Through word of mouth, and advertisements in Punjabi language newspapers, an Alberta driving school owner or instructor lets it be known that he can arrange Class 1 licences with no training for a fee.

- A group of people travel to Calgary in a van and are put up in a local motel. The school owner provides them with Calgary addresses so they can claim to be Alberta residents.

- After receiving a fee of up to $25,000, the owner sends his client to a doctor who for a fee provides a fraudulent document which shows that person has passed their truck-driver’s physical.

- Driver-training schools in Alberta are allowed by law to conduct driver-training examinations, including both the written and road test. The school owner would simply provide his client with fraudulent documents that show the client passed the tests without the client even taking them.

- All those documents are then presented to a registry, which issues the licence. The registry is responsible for verifying the information contained in the documents. Its owner may also be involved in the scheme, again for a share of the fee.