House of Commons Procedure and Practice
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22. Public Petitions

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[51]: Debates, November 20, 1984, pp. 412-3.
[52]: Debates, December 19, 1990, pp. 16963-4.
[53]: Bourinot, 4^th ed., p. 232.
[54]: See, for example, the general discussion on petitions on February 13, 1990 (Debates, pp. 8233-42). In presenting petitions, Members occasionally make reference to their “duty” in this respect (Debates, December 1, 1981, p. 13549; October 20, 1989, p. 4953; March 14, 1994, p. 2226).
[55]: Debates, November 25, 1986, pp. 1501, 1505; February 25, 1994, pp. 1863-4.
[56]: See Debates, October 21, 1997, p. 878 (petitions presented on behalf of a Member who had resigned).
[57]: Debates, May 28, 1987, pp. 6500-1; September 22, 1987, p. 9172; March 8, 1988, p. 13490.
[58]: See, for example, Debates, December 12, 1991, p. 6176.
[59]: Bourinot, 4^th ed., p. 231. See also Debates, April 23, 1879, pp. 1453-4; March 23, 1987, pp. 4433-4. Other Presiding Officers have presented petitions (see, for example, Journals, October 26, 1994, p. 829 (Bob Kilger, Assistant Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole); June 19, 1995, p. 1784 (Shirley Maheu, Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole)).
[60]: Standing Order 36(3). This has been part of the written rules since Confederation.
[61]: Standing Order 36(4).
[62]: Standing Order 36(6).
[63]: Standing Order 36(5).
[64]: Statistics compiled by the Clerk of Petitions indicate that 2107 of 2361 petitions presented in the Second Session of the Thirty-Fifth Parliament (1996-97) were presented orally during Routine Proceedings.
[65]: Standing Order 36(6). Rarely is the entire 15 minutes taken up (see, for example, Debates, March 13, 1995, pp.10393-7).
[66]: Standing Order 36(6).
[67]: Debates, October 28, 1983, p. 28457; June 11, 1985, p. 5649; November 7, 1986, pp. 1190-1.
[68]: Standing Order 36(7).
[69]: Debates, April 27, 1994, p. 3576; June 22, 1995, p. 14413; November 20, 1995, p. 16547; November 4, 1996, pp. 6068-9. Members had been known to inform the House of their personal views as they presented petitions. See, for example, Debates, June 9, 1947, p. 3912; March 29, 1985, p. 3510; April 26, 1994, p. 3483.
[70]: Debates, April 26, 1989, p. 975.
[71]: See, for example, Debates, April 6, 1982, p. 16198; March 14, 1990, p. 9284; September 16, 1991, p. 2173; December 8, 1992, pp. 14806-7; May 7, 1993, pp. 19111-2; September 28, 1998, p. 8474.
[72]: Standing Order 36(5).
[73]: On May 22, 1992, two Members presented petitions which were not recorded in that day’s Journals (Debates, pp. 11088-9; Journals, p. 1546).
[74]: Debates, May 15, 1992, p. 10794.
[75]: Debates, January 20, 1986, p. 9946.
[76]: Standing Order 36(8).
[77]: From 1986 to 1994, a copy of each petition was forwarded to the Privy Council Office. Since the Standing Order changes in 1994, the original petition is now transmitted to the Privy Council Office.
[78]: See, for example, Journals, September 19, 1994, pp. 683-5 (depositing with the Clerk); February 6, 1995, p. 1076 (tabling during Routine Proceedings).
[79]: A sessional paper is any document tabled (or deemed tabled) in the House during a given session and as such is available for public scrutiny.
[80]: See, for example, Debates, February 8, 1993, pp. 15560-2.
[81]: Debates, April 19, 1993, pp. 18104-6.
[82]: See the One Hundred and First Report of the Standing Committee on House Management, deemed tabled on September 8, 1993 (Journals, p. 3338).
[83]: Debates, June 27, 1986, p. 14969.
[84]: Standing Order 49.
[85]: See, for example, Journals, February 29, 1996, p. 17, when responses to petitions presented in the First Session of the Thirty-Fifth Parliament were tabled early in the Second Session.