---
title: "Canadian Star Trek Fan’s ‘ASIMIL8’ License Plate Revoked for Being ‘Insensitive’"
description: "Resistance is futile with Manitoba Public Insurance."
date: "2019-01-07"
modified: "2019-05-23"
authors:
  - name: "Eric Brandt"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/eric-brandt"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/25818/canadian-trekkies-asimil8-license-plate-revoked-for-being-insensitive"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Canada"
  - "License Plates"
  - "Star Trek"
---

# Canadian Star Trek Fan’s ‘ASIMIL8’ License Plate Revoked for Being ‘Insensitive’

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2019/01/locutus.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Canadian *Star Trek* fan Nick Troller has had his [vanity plate](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/20678/maines-freedom-of-license-plate-speech-rubs-some-the-wrong-way>) revoked by Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) on grounds that it is “obviously inappropriate” and was issued due to a “serious lack of judgment” on the part of the people who approved it, *[CBR](<https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-license-plate-manitoba-public-insurance/>)* reports. The license plate reads “ASIMIL8,” which was flanked by a license plate frame that reads “We are the Borg” and “Resistance is futile.”

For you normal people who aren’t into [*Star Trek*](<https://www.twz.com/5149/star-trek-deep-space-nine-dealt-with-the-complexities-of-war-in-an-uncanny-fashion>), the Borg are a race of cyborgs first introduced in 1989's *Star Trek: The Next Generation*. The Borg are bent on assimilating all intelligent life it encounters into the hive mind called “The Collective.” The Borg have appeared in several *Star Trek* series, films, and video games, and are famous for their monotonous threats such as “resistance is futile” and “you will be assimilated.”

But MPI is not amused. Apparently, the word “assimilate” has a particularly negative connotation in [Canada](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/23276/montreal-man-gets-crude-personalized-license-plate-approved-for-dodge-charger>). There have been some controversial policies in Canadian history that have been accused of forcibly assimilating Indigenous peoples into modern Canadian society at the expense of their own culture. When a Canadian reads a license plate that says “ASIMIL8,” MPI argues that it could be perceived as offensive to Indigenous peoples.

In this case, however, it simply sounds like a *Star Trek* fanboy who is really into the Borg expressing his fandom through his license plate. We’ve heard plenty of cases of [questionable vanity plates](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25198/kansas-recalls-731-license-plates-for-ethnic-slur-content>) being issued in the States, but it’s hard to view this one as offensive especially considering the license plate frame providing context.

Troller is bringing a legal challenge to MPI in hopes that he can keep his nerdy license plate. Time will tell if he gets to keep it or if resistance is, indeed, futile.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/brandt004>)