4th Session, 42nd Parliament

(2023) FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

MR. DOUG CLOVECHOK

BILL M 213 – 2023

INDIGENOUS NAMES STATUTES

AMENDMENT ACT, 2023

HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Name Act

CLAUSE 1: [Name Act,

section 9] provides that the registrar general must not refuse a change of name application on the basis that the name sought to be registered is written in an Indigenous language and contains characters other than Latin alphabetic letter, certain symbols and accents, and numbers.

Section 9 of the Name Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 328, is amended by adding the following subsection:

(4.1) The registrar general must not refuse an application on the basis that the name that the applicant seeks to adopt is written in an Indigenous language and contains

(

a) characters other than Latin alphabetic letters,

(

b) symbols other than the apostrophe, hyphen and period,

(

c) accents other than the acute, grave, circumflex, umlaut and cedilla, or

(

d) numbers.

Vital Statistics Act

CLAUSE 2: [Vital Statistics Act,

section 9] provides that the registrar general must not refuse an application to register a name or amend the existing name on a birth registration on the basis that the name sought to be registered is written in an Indigenous language and contains characters other than Latin alphabetic letter, certain symbols and accents, and numbers.

Section 9 of the Vital Statistics Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 479, is amended by adding the following:

(1.1) The registrar general must not register a birth without the name applied for or refuse to amend the existing name on a birth registration on the basis that the name that a person applying for registration of a birth or an amendment to a registration of birth seeks to give to a child is written in an Indigenous language and contains

(

a) characters other than Latin alphabetic letters,

(

b) symbols other than the apostrophe, hyphen and period,

(

c) accents other than the acute, grave, circumflex, umlaut and cedilla, or

(

d) numbers.

Commencement

3 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

CLAUSE 1: [Name Act,

section 9] provides that the registrar general must not refuse a change of name application on the basis that the name sought to be registered is written in an Indigenous language and contains characters other than Latin alphabetic letter, certain symbols and accents, and numbers.

CLAUSE 2: [Vital Statistics Act,

section 9] provides that the registrar general must not refuse an application to register a name or amend the existing name on a birth registration on the basis that the name sought to be registered is written in an Indigenous language and contains characters other than Latin alphabetic letter, certain symbols and accents, and numbers.

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