Debates of August 16, 2007 (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Minister Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as we proceed with this and go to implementation, one of the things we will be working on is a transition plan looking at certain areas such as timing and how things will flow. That’s one of the things we will take into consideration. Of course, there would be some cases because we will have to work with individuals and do the notification; there may be some time lag as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Next on the list for general comments I have Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Just for clarification, I wasn’t on this committee that went to public hearings or considered this Change of Name Act. It says Bill 13 will replace the existing Change of Name Act similar to other Canadian jurisdictions. Legal name changes will be possible through an administrative process rather than a court process. There’s a highly publicized case in the media just in the last couple of weeks about a couple who were living in Quebec. I think the bride was from Ontario and, in fact, in Quebec, she could not change her name to her spouse’s name in Quebec. There was only two criteria that would allow you to change your name to your spouse’s name and one was if your name would lead to ridicule of some kind and the other was something else like that. So when you say similar to other jurisdictions, I just want to clarify here, then, when it says the bill gives equal rights to married and common-law spouses, as defined in section 1 of the Family Law Act, to assume their spouse’s name without application under the act. So, in fact, not only do you not have to go to court to change your name, as they do in Quebec, to your spouse’s name, but you don’t even have to make an application under the act. It’s just automatically approved and you can take on the name of your spouse. Can the Minister just clarify that for me?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there will be a couple of routes that will be determined as an application is made or as the process is established what we are going to. Not wanting to confuse the issue, I will have Mr. Parker give some detail on that and how it works.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Mr. Parker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will just quickly outline the process. A common-law spouse will sign a statutory declaration when assuming their spouse’s surname. In the case of spouses, they use a marriage certificate when assuming their spouse’s surname. So that’s the process that would be used for those two categories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Parker. Anything further, Mrs. Groenewegen?

So they would still have to make an application under this act to change their name to their spouse’s name. They would still have to make an application under this act. It says they are allowed to assume their spouse’s name without application under the act. It says that in Ms. Lee’s comments. So they would still have to make an application. Am I correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will have Mr. Aitken provide some technical detail on that.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Mr. Aitken.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe the answer to Mrs. Groenewegen’s question is found in section 4(3) which deals with applications. As the Member pointed out, a name change would be made upon marriage without making a change of name application under the act. So it can be automatic if the person chooses that result. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Aiken. Is there anything further, Mrs. Groenewegen?

So just to clarify then, in fact, Mr. Chair, this is unique legislation in the fact that this does not coincide with other Canadian jurisdictions; for example, Quebec. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it does not coincide with Quebec, but it does coincide with other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Roland. I am going to let Mrs. Groenewegen assume the chair.

General comments. I have Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to pick up on an issue that Mr. Yakeleya was talking about earlier and that was the change of name. When we were on the road with legislation earlier this year, we were in Tsiigehtchic and we met up with a gentleman who had told us his name had been changed no less than four times during his life. He was originally from Old Crow in the Yukon. His family had moved east and settled in Tsiigehtchic. He has had an interesting time in trying to understand who is responsible for getting him and his family their name back. Is it the federal government? Is it the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs? Is it our government? Who can this individual talk to to get his name back for himself and for his family? I think that is an identity we all have. We are born into this world as our name. It is very important that he gets his name back, Madam Chair. So I would like to know that.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, unfortunately, this is more common than a lot of people realize. In the North, many years ago, the federal government actually went around and assigned people new names because they could not write or pronounce the aboriginal names of people in the Territories. At least, that is what has been said. I have had that told to me as well. In the Mackenzie Delta, there was a commission that went around and gave individuals English names. That can be very difficult now to try to go back to some of those. But the process we will have established once this comes into force, it will clarify how that can be done in changing back to the person’s name, the birth name they were given. Their aboriginal name as well would be looked at. As for the actual process of what support could be in place, we would have to work that out in the transition plan of what is available. If it goes back to what we can do with the federal government or whose responsibility it is, well, obviously, with the federal government setting that up and going around and having people’s names changed, it was very difficult. I think, in the existing system, with the old act in place and having to go to court, it is very difficult when you are from a small community, isolated, trying to get all of the pieces lined up so you can provide the documentation and go before the court, pay the fees and follow through in that process. It makes it quite difficult. This process would make it a bit easier. There still needs to be some documentation, but it would make it a bit easier and the process simpler to go back to that person’s original name. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am glad to hear the Minister say that it is an important matter. I just want to understand a little bit better. I believe the committee is asking the government to make it a practice to waive the $250 fee for individuals who have had their name changed by no fault of their own, by the government or by whoever showed up in the community years ago and said your name is going to change from this to that. It is not their fault. I don’t think they should, under any circumstance, have to pay $250 to have their name changed back to what it originally was. In fact, given specifically this gentleman, his heartfelt explanation of what happened to him, I would encourage the government to set up at least a contact person. When you are an individual person in a community like Tsiigehtchic, it is very hard to get the documents, to talk to somebody, to understand the system, to find out what is going on, and how to make things right and get your name changed. I think if we had a single point of contact for individuals who are in the same situation as Mr. Itsi is in Tsiigehtchic, that would make things a lot easier for residents in our communities who have had this practice done to them in the past and can get their original name back. I would like to ask the Minister, is the department going to take a look at setting up a single point of contact for individuals who want to get their name back? Can we do that? Can we assign that task to a person in the Inuvik office, South Slave office, a person in the North Slave office, so that individuals in the small communities know who to talk to? Because right now, they get the run around. They talk to six different people and get six different answers on who is responsible. Let’s try to fix this, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, in fact, with this bill going ahead and dealing with it through the health services administration office up in Inuvik, it is one office. The workload is broken up between individuals in that office for different areas. So this would fall into that pattern and would make it much simpler as we proceed forward.

Yes, as I stated earlier, on the issue of when names were changed by no fault of their own or an action by the government through regulations, we would look at establishing a process where, if it is by no fault of their own, we could put a nominal fee in or no fee at all. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is fine and good, but who can an individual call today, a gentleman in Tsiigehtchic, who can they call specifically today to address the issue of their name being changed no less than four times and wanting it changed back to their original name? Who in the bureaucracy can they call today so that they can have one point of contact and they can get the issue dealt with? Is there anybody they can talk to to get that rectified? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the process as of today is under the old act and the courts would be the place or the avenue that would proceed. As of April 1, 2008, it will be through the Department of Health and Social Services vital statistics area, the health services administration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I should rephrase my question a little bit differently. Under the new legislation, is there going to be a single point of contact for individuals who have had their name changed so that they can phone somebody? There should be somebody in each and every region in the Northwest Territories so that there is that one point of contact so that a file can be developed and their name could be changed back to what it originally was.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have only one office that deals with these functions. It is the health services administration office up in Inuvik. As it is stated, during the process of establishing this and coming into force, we will have a transition plan put in place. As I am aware of today, the way the office works, different files are given to different individuals in that office. Once that is done, we can clearly make that available to all people in the Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I heard a commitment from the Minister to have a single point of contact. If it is in Inuvik, it is in Inuvik. If we can’t have one in each region, it is okay if there is a phone number. For an individual to phone when it goes back 50 or 60 years when their name was changed, I think it is very important that they have some peace of mind that somebody somewhere is going to care and somebody somewhere is actually going to do something about it and get their name changed back to what it originally was. I am glad to hear the Minister say that. By the looks of things, under the new legislation, that will happen through the transition. I am very happy to hear that, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, as we go through a transition plan and implementation in putting this act into force, we will, as the office has already shown a number of files they have dedicated to different individuals in that office and will be working with them as we go through implementation in having this act come into force. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. General comments. Detail. There are 26 clauses in this bill. I will ask Members if they will turn in their binders to Bill 17, Change of Name Act. Sorry, I have no glasses on. Bill 13, Change of Name Act. Clause 1.

Agreed.

Clause 2.

Agreed.

Clause 3.

Agreed.

Clause 4.

Agreed.

Clause 5.

Agreed.

Clause 6.