Does the committee agree that concludes our consideration of Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendments Act? Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Minister, thank you to your witnesses. And sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses from the chamber.

Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Name Act. I will ask the Minister of Justice to introduce the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Names Act.

Bill 18 will address an error made during amendments to the Partnership and Business Names Act in 2015 stating that a suspension of registrations is required while a registration is under review. This was not the intent of the change from 2015. Instead of stating that a decision is stayed, the legislation should say that a decision is not stayed during the review period to avoid unreasonable and unpredictable delays in registering business names. In addition, Bill 18 makes the language used throughout the Act more gender inclusive.

This concludes my opening remarks, and I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 18. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Would the Minister like to bring witnesses into the chamber?

Yes, please.

Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses into the chamber.

Minister, please introduce your witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, today I have with me Brian Asmundson, acting director of legal registries with the Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I will now turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, the committee that reviewed the bill, for any opening comments. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Names Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 10th, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. On April 22nd, 2025, a very busy day for committee, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Justice and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill.

I thank the committee for their efforts in reviewing this legislation and, of course, individual Members may have additional comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Bill 18.

Does the committee agree that there are no further general comments?

Can we proceed to clause-by-clause review of the bill?

Thank you. There are 37 clauses in the bill. Where possible, I will call clauses in groups of 5. Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.

Clause 1 to 5, does the committee agree?

Clause 6 to 10, does the committee agree?

Please turn to page 2 of the bill. Clause 11 to 15, does committee agree?