ProveItNL, an independent volunteer group.
Bring NL petitions up to speed with Ottawa
Like the House of Commons, the House of Assembly could accept verified e-petitions too.
An example from this fall
An online petition about changing the clocks in Newfoundland and Labrador showed 9,246 signatures on Nov 1, 2026, by Change.org's own count, which isn't verified. Change.org is a private website, not a House of Assembly or House of Commons petition. Change.org's page shows no verified count of signers from NL.
None of those signatures can be presented as a petition in our House. Since a 2012 Speaker's ruling, petitions need original signatures (no electronic signatures, photocopies, faxes or PDFs).
Compare a House of Commons e-petition on time changes from earlier this year (e-7155), which asked for permanent standard time. It was open from Feb 24 to Mar 26, 2026, and had 2,808 validated signatures. The official page shows 60 of them from Newfoundland and Labrador. That's what a verified system gives you: a validated count, by province and territory.
We take no side on the clocks. We use this only as an example.
Sources: Change.org petition page (count checked Nov 1, 2026) · House of Assembly Petitions page · Speaker's ruling, June 6, 2012 · Commons e-petition e-7155
This is a separate suggestion. It is not part of our petition, which asks only for a recorded vote.
Today, only paper counts. The House of Assembly does not accept e-petitions. Online signatures do not count, and this site does not collect signatures. To sign this petition, sign a paper sheet in person.
What we're asking
Newfoundland and Labrador should let people sign petitions to the House of Assembly online, with verification, as the House of Commons has done since 2015 and as Quebec's National Assembly does now.
We ask the House to change its Standing Orders to allow verified e-petitions as an additional, optional route, and to have the Standing Orders Committee study how. Paper petitions would stay exactly as they are. The citizen would choose which route to use.
The House of Commons has used verified e-petitions for over a decade. The House of Assembly can set the safeguards it trusts.
What the rules say now
The House's Petitions page says signatures "must be original, i.e. they may not be electronic, copied or pasted". On June 6, 2012, the Speaker ruled: "I will require in the future, that all signatures be original, no electronic signatures, photocopies, faxes or PDF files" (Hansard, June 6, 2012). The Speaker said the Standing Orders were "written long before photocopiers, fax machines, electronic signatures, PDF files, et cetera," but "it is my view it clearly establishes the need for original inked signatures." (Hansard, June 6, 2012)
We respect that ruling as a faithful reading of the rules as written. That is why we ask the House to update the rules, not to set the ruling aside.
Why
- Precedent. The House of Commons has offered e-petitions since 2015, alongside paper petitions. An e-petition needs at least 500 signatures to be certified (SO 36(2.4)), and the government must respond to a certified petition within 45 days (SO 36(8)(a)). Quebec's National Assembly runs them.
- Access. People in rural Newfoundland and in Labrador may live far from a signing table.
- Accessibility. Some residents cannot easily get to a signing table or handle a paper form.
- Verification. In the House of Commons, a Member must authorize it, the Clerk of Petitions examines it, signers confirm by email, and it is certified only if it gets at least 500 valid signatures.
How you can help
- Talk to your MHA. Ask, politely, whether they would support verified e-petitions for the House of Assembly.
- Tell friends paper is the only way to count today. An online "signature" for a House of Assembly petition does not count.
- Sign our paper petition. Find a sheet on Where to sign.