MP outlines process for Northwest residents to deliver petitions to House of Commons

A change in the rules at the House of Commons is going to take the Federal Parliament into the age of the Internet when it comes to hearing the concerns of the people.

The House of Commons has streamlined the process for citizens to create and deliver petitions to their representatives in Ottawa, allowing for the receipt of electronic petitions, something that wasn't allowed only a few months ago.

Through the work of MP Kennedy Stewart, the NDP MP for Burnaby South, who helped steer the proposal in the House, Canadians can if they prefer, now share their concerns or raise issues without the need of packaging up the signatures and mailing them off to their MPs.

However, the drama of holding up and then dropping a giant package of signatures to their desk for MPs will still be available, as the paper based petition process will also still be accepted.

In his Winter report to constituents, NDP MP Nathan Cullen has provided a short tutorial for residents of Skeena-Bulkley Valley to take note of, should they have an issue of concern for the Federal Government.

The guidelines on how to create online petitions and other background on the process can be found here.

So far there have been 23 online petitions created by Canadians for our consideration.

One petition that highlights the nature of how the process works and is of interest to residents of coastal British Columbia is the petition calling for the return of Coast Guard facilities in British Columbia.

For more items of interest to the Northwest from the House of Commons see our archive page here.