Just in time for International Women’s Day, a BC Liberal MLA is calling for spouses to have more freedom in choosing their last names without having to pay a fee.
Mary Polak, BC Liberal House Leader and MLA for Langley, introduced a bill today, Friday, that would allow married British Columbians to combine or hyphenate their surnames without costs in the same way they can freely adopt their spouse’s name.
“Currently, British Columbians can easily take their spouse’s last name after marriage,” stated Polak in a press release. “The same is not true for those who wish to combine or hyphenate their names. Instead, they must go through the formal name-change process which can be time consuming and costly.”
Polak introduced the Name Amendment Act, 2019 in advance of International Women’s Day with the hopes of modernizing what many consider an outdated process for name changes that disproportionately impacts woman.
“This proposed legislation reflects the realities of modern relationships and family structures in British Columbia,” adds Polak. “This is a very small change that can have a significant positive impact and I hope the government will consider adopting it.”
A name change for an adult in B.C. costs $137.
In another initiative, the BC Liberals are supporting an Equal Pay Reporting Act, which would require businesses that employ 50 or more people to provide an annual breakdown of bonuses, mean and median regular pay provided to all male and female employees.
By publicly declaring this information, companies would be encouraged to improve pay equity, according to the BC Liberals.
“Pay inequality is an issue often talked about and infrequently acted on,” stated Surrey South MLA Stephanie Cadieux, who introduced the bill in the BC Legislature Friday.
She said she hopes the bill, if passed, would “bring light to this issue and provide an opportunity for businesses to address inequality head-on.”
