The Town is dedicated to community engagement, and the use of petitions enables residents to contribute to Council's decision-making process and present information for Council's consideration. The Town's Municipal Petition Policy outlines the procedures for creating and submitting a petition.
Petition Policy Template
| What is a Petition? |
| A petition is a formal written request made to Council. Petitions request a particular action be taken that is within the discretion of Council. |
| Requirements |
- Have a clear, and respectful request that is within Councils authority to act on.
- Not be frivolous or vexatious in nature.
- Not discriminate against any individual or group based on grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.
- Not criticize any one person or group.
- Be legible, typewritten or printed in ink (no pencil).
- Have the text/request of the petition listed at the top of each page for multiple-page petitions and pages should be numbered and total number of pages shown (to ensure no pages are misplaced).
- Identify a main point of contact/spokesperson for the petition.
- Include printed names, addresses and original signatures written directly on the face of the petition and not pasted thereon or otherwise transferred to it. Photocopies will not be accepted.
- For electronic petitions, petitioners shall provide name, address and a valid e-mail address.
- Include a notice on each page saying that the petition will be treated as a public document and that the information it holds may be accessible to the public.
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| Submission of Petitions |
- Petitions, where possible, should use the provided petition template/form.
- Petitions shall be submitted to the Clerk. Paper-based petitions having original signatures should be sent by mail or delivered to the Clerk at Town Hall.
- Shall be addressed to Goderich Town Council.
- An electronic petition may be submitted to the attention of the Clerk at townhall@goderich.ca.
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What happens after a Petition is submitted?
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- 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.
- Council has the discretion to accept the petition. Any decision made by Council is final and not appealable.
- Petitions considered to be in non-compliance will not be formally accepted by Council.
- All petitions filed with the Clerk shall be kept as per the Town's Records Retention Schedule.
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| Presenting Petitions at Council |
- Indicate upon submission the desire to verbally present the petition to Council.
- The identified petition spokesperson shall be the individual who will make the presentation.
- The spokesperson shall be limited to speaking for no more than ten (10) minutes. The allotted presentation/delegation times do not include answering questions from Council.
- No other materials will be allowed to be displayed, presented, or distributed to Council other than the petition itself.
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