Petitions

A petition is a citizen’s direct plea to the Crown for relief from a grievance. A citizen who signs a petition is a “petitioner”. MLAs present petitions on behalf of their constituents. Usually petitions are presented in the House during the daily routine, then tabled, but they can also be filed directly with the Clerk at any time during a sitting. Once filed with the Clerk, petitions become part of the public record of the House.

The main effect of petitioning the House is calling attention to a local grievance and publicly recording the citizens’ request for relief from the Crown. Consequently, the openness and transparency of petitioning also mean that the name and address of every individual citizen who signs the petition becomes public.

There is no debate on petitions presented to the House during the Daily Routine. A lone petition, without a motion, cannot prompt a debate. Yet as part of the legislative record, a petition can still resurface in the House later. Technically, an accepted petition may form the subject of a separate, subsequent motion during the Session (e.g., to refer the Petition to a Committee). Any MLA may also reference the petition during debate(s) relevant to the grievance raised or relief sought in the petition.

Although all citizens possess the fundamental democratic right to petition the Crown, no unelected Nova Scotian enjoys the right to appear personally in the House of Assembly. In our representative democracy, elected legislators are therefore tasked with presenting petitions on behalf of their constituents.

MLAs are not compelled to present petitions and doing so does not imply personal support for the action requested.

Petition Basics:

  • Petitions contain a request for action (called a "prayer").

  • The request must ask the House of Assembly or government to do something that is within its constitutional powers.

  • They can be either written or printed (not electronic) and signed by as few as one person. If there are three or more signatures, however, they must be on the first page with the prayer.

  • The prayer should appear at the top of every page of a petition. There is no standard format. All petitions must bear original signatures.

  • Photocopies of petitions or print-outs of Internet petitions are not acceptable. Similarly, boxes or bundles of printed e-mails are not accepted.

THREE-STEP PROCEDURE FOR PETITIONS

A petition cannot be accepted by the House of Assembly unless it is “in order”: the petition must comply with the current Rules and Forms of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (‘the Rules’). The Rules do not permit electronic/online petitions.

Petitioning the Crown through the House of Assembly involves the following three steps:

STEP 1: CONSTITUENTS PREPARE PETITION

The House of Assembly does not have a standard form for petitions. A sample template is available from the Clerk’s Office (find one here).

For a petition to be accepted by the House, the form and content of the petition must first comply with the following requirements:

  1. Prepared on Physical Paper, with Handwritten Local Signatures

  2. Appropriately Addressed to Legislature or Executive

  3. Contain A Prayer for Relief

  4. Within Provincial Jurisdiction

  5. And Endorsed (Signed) by MLA

1. Prepared on Physical Paper, with Handwritten Local Signatures
Physical Paper: The petition must be prepared and presented on physical, hard paper, and the undersigned names must be handwritten.

  • Photocopies are out-of-order

  • Online petitions or e-petitions are out-of-order

  • No print-outs from Internet-generated petitions (e.g., change.org)

Local Signatures: The petition must be handwritten with the name and addresses of at least one natural person (a human being) who resides in the affected area.

  • The geographic scope of a petition may encompass multiple electoral districts

  • Corporations and businesses cannot sign

  • A petitioner cannot sign on behalf of someone else

  • A mailing address is not strictly required

    • at minimum, each petitioner should provide sufficient information to link their place of residence to the electoral district covered by the petition, such as:

      • postal code (by itself) or

      • community name (e.g., Sydney River)

      • municipality name (e.g., Cape Breton Regional Municipality)

2. Appropriately Addressed to Legislature or Executive
The petition must be appropriately addressed to any one of the following officials or entities:

  • A Minister of the Crown or the Premier of Nova Scotia

    • Use only the title of the portfolio or office, not the personal name or the Minister (e.g., The Premier of Nova Scotia, not Premier Houston/ Tim Houston)

    • Ensure the Department name is correct: see Executive Council Act, RSNS 1989, c 155.

  • The House of Assembly or the Legislature; or

  • The Government of Nova Scotia; or

  • The Executive Council of Nova Scotia

Petitions addressed to an individual MLA, to a municipality, board, organization, tribunal, court, administrative bodies/offices, etc. are all out-of-order.

3. Contain a “prayer for relief” on EVERY single page
The first page and every page bearing a signature must contain a “prayer for relief”

  • A prayer for relief is a legal term for seeking a remedy - not a religious plea

  • A remedy is a request to take an action or refrain from taking an action

  • Expressing an opinion or criticism (i.e., the road is rough and dirty) is not a prayer for relief

  • The prayer for relief must be framed clearly as a direct request

    • E.g., to fix a specific problem, to undo a previous decision, or to stop a discrete event from happening

  • The prayer for relief must use respectful, moderate words – insulting, inflammatory, or otherwise unparliamentary language cannot be accepted

4. Within Provincial Jurisdiction
The Legislature must have lawmaking jurisdiction over the grievance.

  • The grievance – i.e., the issue or problem underlying the petition – must fall within the Province’s legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution

    • E.g., petitions to reform the Criminal Code are out-of-order: criminal law is the exclusive jurisdiction of Federal Parliament

  • If the grievance involves an issue that is currently under litigation in the courts, the petition cannot be accepted

  • If addressed to a specific Minister or involving a single Department, the grievance must fall within the Minister’s portfolio / Department’s statutory scheme

5. Affixed with MLA’s Signature (Signed) by MLA
For the House to accept a petition, it must bear the signature of the MLA who represents the affected area.

  • Affixing their signature does not signify MLA support for the grievance raised, nor does it signify advocacy for the relief sought

  • Rather, the MLA signature only confirms that they have agreed to submit the petition as the elected representative for the affected area and that they are answerable for any inappropriate content

  • The MLA signature must be affixed somewhere outside / other than a signature line for petitioners – the best location is on the front page

 

STEP 2: MLA SUBMITS PETITION TO THE HOUSE

Once the MLA has received a completed petition from their constituent(s) either directly to the Clerk's Office or in the chamber during the Daily Routine.

The Clerk’s Office examines the filed petition to ensure it complies with the form and content prescribed by the Rules and explained under Step 1 above.

If the petition does not comply, the Clerk’s Office will explain what must be revised before the House can accept the petition. The MLA can then follow up with the petitioner(s), who may then revise the petition at their convenience.

STEP 3: PETITION IS RECORDED AND TRANSMITTED

Once the House accepts a valid petition, it becomes a permanent part of the legislative record. Petitions are recorded by the Clerk’s Office in the Journals and Proceedings of the House of Assembly. Any person may ask to read or receive a copy of the complete petition by contacting the Clerk’s Office.

The Clerk’s Office forwards petitions to the addressee (i.e., the Minister(s) responsible and/or the Executive Council).

Unlike some other Canadian jurisdictions, the Rules do not explicitly obligate the addressee to publicly respond to the petition in the House. Although there is no explicit obligation to do so, when the addressee is an individual Ministers or Executive Council, the addressee may choose to respond orally during Statements by Ministers. Alternatively, a Minister or the Government House Leader may table a written response to the petition under the “Tabling Reports, Regulations, and Other Papers” item of business during the Daily Routine.

For more information, visit nslegislature.ca.