Mary Polak introduced the Name Amendment Act, 2019 in advance of International Women’s Day with the hopes of modernizing an outdated process for name changes that disproportionately impacts women.
VICTORIA – Mary Polak, BC Liberal House Leader and MLA for Langley, introduced a bill today 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,” says Polak. “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Polak introduced the Name Amendment Act, 2019 in advance of International Women’s Day with the hopes of modernizing an outdated process for name changes that disproportionately impacts women.
“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.”
