Manitoba has a lot of options when it comes to license plates.

You can show your support for the Winnipeg Jets, Blue Bombers and Winnipeg Humane Society. You can also pay for a personalized plate.

That's what one Winnipeg man chose to do when he got a new vehicle.

Nick Troller thought long and hard about the word he wanted to choose and then settled on a phrase from his favorite TV show, "Star Trek."

"The Borg from Star Trek, they always say, ‘We are the Borg. Resistance is futile," recalls Troller. "And then they always say, ‘You will be assimilated.’”

So on his personalized license plate, he put the word ASIMIL8. For about two years he's been driving around with it, but no longer. Someone complained about it.

Troller said he got a phone call and then a letter from Manitoba Public Insurance telling him that the word on his plate was considered offensive and he would have to surrender the plate.

Ry Moran from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation said in Canada, the word assimilate has some ugly connotations.

"For basically the entirety of this country's history, indigenous peoples have been forcibly assimilated through extremely destructive ways," said Moran. "The residential schools forcibly assimilated indigenous peoples, the 60s Scoop. Assimilation has dramatically impacted indigenous ways of life and being in this country."

Nick Troller insists he only wanted to honor his love of Star Trek and never meant to offend anyone, but there's no appeal process. Licence plates are considered property of the Crown and if deemed offensive, can be pulled at any time. In a statement to CTV, MPI said in part:

"Manitoba Public Insurance takes complaints about inappropriate or offensive personalized license plates very seriously and we are investigating this plate approval."

Nick Troller isn't the first person to have his personalized license plate taken away from him. In Nova Scotia, a man named Lorne Grabher lost his plate with his last name on it, after a person complained, the government saying some people could interpret it as promoting violence against women.

Other plates in other jurisdictions have been pulled for hidden messages deemed vulgar or offensive.