Canada. House of Commons. Private Members' Business Office : In 1986, the government established an office specifically for petitions and private members' business. The Private Members' Business Office is responsible for most of the administrative and procedural duties associated with Private Members' Business. These include making arrangements for the draw, ensuring that Members and their staff know when their items of business are to be taken up during Private Members' Hour, and providing the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs with procedural advice on Private Members' Business.
Petitions are used to draw Parliament's attention to an issue of public interest or concern or request that Parliament take a certain action within its authority.
A Petition must be reviewed and be certified correct as to form and content before a Member of Parliament may present it to the House on behalf of the petitioners. Petitions must be addressed to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled, the Government of Canada, a Minister of the Crown or a Member of the House of Commons. Only a Member of Parliament can present a petition to the House of Commons. Therefore, petitioners must send their petition to a Member (even if he or she does not represent the petitioners) with a request to present it to the House. Members are not required to present petitions they receive and may ask another colleague to present them. Individuals who wish to petition the House of Commons should first submit a draft petition (without signatures) to a Member of Parliament to see whether it is correct as to form and content and whether the Member would agree to present it. A Member may present a petition to the House in either of two ways: by making a brief statement in the House regarding the origin and subject of the petition, or by filing the petition with the Clerk of the House while the House is sitting. The act of presenting a petition does not necessarily mean that the Member supports it. If a Member makes a statement in the House when presenting a petition, the statement is reproduced in Hansard, the official record of the debates. A record of each petition presented, whether or not a statement is made, appears in the Journals for that day. Once a petition has been presented, it is sent to the Government which must table a response in the House within 45 days. If no government response is received within the 45 days, the failure of the Government to respond is referred to a standing committee, which must convene a meeting on the matter within five sitting days.
