Petitions and Parliament

Have you ever wondered what happens with a paper petition you just signed and how the process is for presenting these in parliament? Keep in mind online petitions are different and we are solely speaking of paper versions.

We just met with our MP Libby Davies and were educated on petitions and the process of passing a bill in parliament. Needless to say it is a longroad to passing a law but certain steps have heavy weight for education and awareness.

Bill C-296 which would ban the import of dog and cat fur has been introduced in parliament and 4 batches of petitions have been introduced thus far. Each signature is verified in Ottawa to certify thesignatures are valid and ofCanadian citizens.Your signatures do carry weight and are not just floating off into space! To send yours in please download the petition fromhttps://thefurbearers.com/downloads/PDFs/296petition.pdf

Every timewe have petitions for Libby Davies she presents them in parliament. This is in the hopes that they will go to a second reading which is known as thedebate stage. The 2 hour debate is very important for bringing awareness and allowing for a vote on the bill to progress further to the committee stage. Each MP has a ranking in parliament and when it is the MP’s turn to present this is when the debate will occur. A debate is a huge step forward in the process.

If voted through, the committee stage examines the bill word for word and line by line. This is known as the good Idea Bill. The report stage is next where amendmentsare votedon which leads the bill to the third reading. The third reading has another debate and vote on the changed version of the Good Idea Bill. If passed the bill moves to the senate which repeatsall of the above stepsuntil it is approved and passed to the chamber where it is almost a law!

It is easy now to see how it is a long and drawn out process! Libby explained that the debate stage is so very important and it may be a while before Bill C-296 is called to debate but in the mean timetherepetitive presentations of the petitions are so very important.

Another important aspect ofthe process is to talk with your local MP and voice your concerns and create a discussion.Remember that they are working for you! Even though she is presenting the bill it would beextremely beneficial to ask your MP to present the petitions in parliament as well. Having more than one MP present petitions in parliament carries a lot of weight and awareness.This would be a huge way to help out this bill.

We certainly learned a lot and we hope this allows fora small understanding of how the process works. Thank you for sending in the petitions.We are extremely appreciative!

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Established in 1953, The Fur-Bearers is a charitable, non-partisan organization whose goals are to end the commercial fur trade and promote solutions for wildlife coexistence in communities. Your donation is tax-deductible. Charitable registration number: 130006125RR0002

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