Electronic petitions touted by Burnaby MP

Photo courtesy rayduffable

Burnaby-Douglas Member of Parliament Kennedy Stewart is putting forward a motion to allow electronic petitioning in the federal government.

As Stewart told CBC radio, “We have a democratic deficit here in Canada.”  He feels the way petitions are traditionally put forward — the old paper and pen way— is not engaging enough people.

With electronic petitioning more dispersed communities and youth would be more involved, said Kennedy. 

His motion has two parts. The first is to make it legal for those interested to sign a petition online. The second part is for a petitioner to gather 50 thousand signatures and the support of five MPs.

It is this gathering of support that Kennedy said will protect the process from being highjacked by special interest groups. “The reputation of MPs is pretty important,” said Kennedy.

“Since the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms, big issues have gone to the courts,” said Kennedy. If there were electronic petitioning, more issues would be under debate in Ottawa.

Kennedy has support from unlikely sources. Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party of Canada and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.  “Both have worked to improve democracy in this country,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy's bill,  M-428, will come up for debate in the House this spring.