QUEBEC CITY, July 14 (UPI) -- The French-Canadian province of Quebec is considering adding the maple leaf emblem to new driver licenses to identify owners as Canadian citizens.
The existing licenses bear the French blue and white provincial flag emblem, but new optional "enhanced" licenses that have embedded radio frequency identification chips are being developed. The chips can be read from a distance of 30 feet for people traveling to the United States by land or water, The Gazette newspaper in Montreal reported.
The enhanced licenses must meet criteria set by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be used at borders, the report said.
Apart from Quebec separatists who don't want a Canadian emblem on provincially issued material, there are concerns over what might happen to the data harvested by U.S. authorities, the newspaper said.
In February, Canada's federal and provincial privacy commissioners issued a joint call for Canadians to avoid the new licenses and instead get passports for international travel.
