Petitions

What is a Petition?

A petition is a formal written document requesting consideration of a matter to which multiple individuals have signed or otherwise agreed with as a Petitioner. Petitions request a particular action be taken that is within the discretion of Council.

Petition Requirements

• Petitions introducing a new issue or new business must contain a minimum of twenty-five (25) signatures.
• Petitions related to the same issue as a Petition that has already been included on a Council agenda in the previous twelve (12) months will not be accepted.
• The petition must be addressed to the Council of the Township of North Huron and request a particular action within the authority of Council.
• Petitions may be submitted in an electronic or paper-based format. For convenience, the Township has created a form that Petition organizers may use.
• Petitions submitted via an external Petition website (i.e. change.org) will not be accepted as a formal Petition but may be included as “consent agenda correspondence” on a Council agenda if the subject is relating to an upcoming agenda item.

For paper based petitions:

• The Petition must be addressed to Council.
• The Petition organizer’s name and contact information must be provided.
• The Petition must include an explanation of the purpose of the Petition so that it is clear to Petitioners what is being requested of Council. In the case of a paper-based Petition, this explanation must be listed at the top of each page for multiple-page Petitions.
• That pages must be numbered and total number of pages indicated.
• Each Petitioner must print and sign his or her own name. A paper Petition must contain original signatures only, written directly on the Petition.
• Each Petitioner must provide their full address.
• The Petition must clearly disclose on each page that it will be considered a public document at the Township of North Huron and that information contained in it may be subject to the scrutiny of the Township and other members of the general public.

For electronic petitions:

• The Petition must be addressed to Council.
• The Petition organizer’s name and contact information must be provided.
• The Petition organizer must provide proof that the Petition included an explanation of the purpose of the Petition so that it is clear to Petitioners what is being requested of Council.
• Each Petitioner must provide their name, address and a valid e-mail address in place of an original signature, where the option for an original signature is not provided.
• The Petition organizer must provide proof that the Petition included a statement that the Petition, once submitted to the Township, is considered a public document and that information contained in it may be subject to scrutiny of the Township and other members of the general public.

Submission of Petitions

• Paper-based Petitions containing original signatures should be sent to the attention of the Clerk by mail or delivered in person to the Township of North Huron Municipal Office.
• Electronic Petitions meeting the Policy requirements must be submitted to the attention of the Clerk via email at delegations@northuron.ca.
• The deadline for submitting a Petition in relation to an item on a Council Agenda is 4:30pm on the Monday of the week prior to the Meeting.

 What happens after a Petition is submitted?

• Upon receipt of a petition, the Clerk evaluates all petitions to ensure that the requirements of the Petition Policy are met.
• All petitions that meet the Petition Policy requirements are included as correspondence on the Council agenda for the next regular Council meeting, or for the meeting at which the subject of the petition is to be discussed. 

All petitions submitted to the Township will be retained by the Clerk’s Office and will be available for public viewing upon request.