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Canada amnesiac loses fight for birth certificate The British Columbia Court of Appeal said it sympathized with the man, who calls himself Philip Staufen, but declined to overturn a lower court ruling that had said he was not entitled to a British Columbia birth certificate. Staufen says he has no memories prior to 1999 when he awoke in a Toronto hospital after what police believe was a mugging. His name comes from an identification bracelet he was wearing when he awoke. Staufen moved from Toronto to Vancouver, where he decided to seek a birth certificate that he would need to obtain travel documents. He has said he wants to travel to Britain to see if he can find any clues to his identity. The name Staufen was also on an Ontario health card he was carrying when admitted to the hospital, and the appeals court ruled he had to provide more proof that he was actually born in British Columbia and not Ontario. "Unfortunately, it appears Mr. Staufen has not adequately pursued the leads available to him," Justice Mary Newbury wrote for the three-member appeals court panel. Staufen had argued his lack of a birth certificate had left him as little more than a prisoner in Canada because he was unable to get work and support himself because he could not prove who he was or where he was from. Staufen's plight has received extensive media attention in Britain and on the Internet, but the publicity has produced no clues to his true identity. Canada's federal immigration minister offered in June to give Staufen a temporary residency certificate that would allow him to get a job and study, but he rejected the offer.
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