A petition is a request made by citizens seeking the assistance of the House of Assembly in addressing a matter of concern.
In order to be presented in the House of Assembly, petitions:
must follow certain form and content requirements;
must be certified by a Table Officer before being presented in the House of Assembly; and
must be presented in the House of Assembly by a Member of the House of Assembly. Note that Members are not obliged to present petitions and cannot be forced to do so. To contact your Member, refer to the Members' contact page.
Guidelines and Form for Petitions
The following guidelines and forms are provided to assist citizens in developing a petition. If further clarification is required, please contact the Office of the Clerk.
Petitions must relate to matters within provincial jurisdiction and must not include impertinent or improper matters.
Petitions must be written in English, or be accompanied by an English translation certified by the Clerk.
Petitions may be either hand written or printed in substantially the form that follows below and must include the following components:
a heading which identifies it as a petition;
a statement which identifies the reason(s) for the petition or the grievance for which relief is sought;
the prayer, which is the request for action petitioners wish to see taken in response to the matter of concern. The request must not be addressed to government directly, but may urge the House to request government to address the matter to which the petition relates;
names, addresses and signatures of the petitioners and the date the petitioner signed the petition. Signatures must be original, i.e. they may not be electronic, copied or pasted. Also, an individual cannot sign on behalf of another;
a disclosure statement advising that petitions tabled in the House of Assembly will become a document of the House of Assembly and, as such, the name and address of every person who signs it will be available to the public; and
the prayer and the disclosure statement must appear on each page of signatures submitted with the petition.
