The public has the right to petition their local government Council or the Minister of Municipal Affairs. 

The Municipal Government Act (“MGA”) provides the requirements for a petition to be declared sufficient.  To learn more about petitions, and how to conduct one that may be declared sufficient, please visit the Alberta Municipal Affairs website Petition information for electors page. 

A sufficient petition is a petition that meets all of the requirements of the MGA and may require certain actions by Council as a result.  An insufficient petition does not meet those requirements and Council is not bound to take any actions as a result.

The MGA requires that all petitions be filed with the CAO, who must declare the petition to be either sufficient or insufficient, and then provide a report to Council.  In reporting an insufficient petition, the CAO may also provide Council with more information on the matter addressed by the petition.  Although Council will not be bound to take any action that a sufficient petition might require under the MGA, they may choose to give further consideration to the matter in question.

If you have more questions about petitions, you may wish to contact the Legislative Services Manager, or you may contact Municipal Affairs for more information.