Mr. Chairman, I would like to make an amendment. I would think it would be very difficult if a petition came about on the Speaker's personal conduct in the House and he had to table it. What I would like to suggest is that the rules be amended to allow members of the public to present a petition to the Legislative Assembly by filing it with the Clerk, provided that such petitions contain a minimum of 25 signatures and addresses, and I would like to move that we insert, "a public policy matter."

What I was hoping we would do is to make it matters of relevance. What could happen is that this would mean in terms of a public matter, and I do not know if I have done anything better when making it a public policy matter. You could say that everything is a public policy matter. The concern I would have is the number of petitions. We have a response mechanism for petitions where government has to respond to petitions within so many days. Does this mean that all of the petitions which are filed by the public follow the same rules where government would have to respond as though it was tabled by a Member of the Legislative Assembly. I was trying to restrict it, but if it does not then I will withdraw it. It is my understanding that it does not help anything by inserting "policy."

I have a general concern about petitions that are not presented through a Member and someone who will take responsibility for the petition. If anyone with 25 signatures can file a petition, the rules require us to deal with that petition. I do not know whether the Legislative Assembly or the committee of the whole is trying to make that provision. If we receive 100 petitions, which we could easily receive on every matter, we are obliged to respond to them, and it is not even the will of the House to respond because obviously if the petition is going to be filed through the Clerk, there is no one sponsoring that petition or in the position to oppose that petition. If you cannot get anyone in the House to deal with the matter, who are we responding to. I have a general concern regarding this one.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. According to our rules currently under petitions, the Speaker or Minister responsible shall provide a response to a petition within 60 days of its presentation and such response shall be tabled at the earliest opportunity. The government has no choice but to respond to a petition. The chairman of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and Privileges should be cognizant of the rules. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand the Leader's concern. I do not think it is not so much a public matter, I think of the number "25." If you already have that number in your rule book, you will be swamped with petitions every day from my community because that number is not very high.

---Laughter

Anything they want, they will be sending it by fax. If we say 100 or 200 signatures are required for legitimate petitions, that will leave out the smaller communities. Maybe what we can do is go by percentage, rather than the actual numbers. For example, the populations between 100 to 500 will require half the signatures, 500 to 1000 will require one third, 1001 to 2000 will require one quarter, 2000 and up such as Yellowknife, will require one eighth. That would be more acceptable, rather than the number "25." Those who are in the construction crew want to have their meals paid by the government, rather than the company, they will be sending petitions right away. Is it a public matter, I do not know. If the people in Coral Harbour want to have us build a wharf because they are losing many boats, if they have one third of the population signing the petition, that is legitimate. I think we are going to have to look at recommendation seven more carefully. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I think it is important for Members not to confuse the idea of the rules being amended to allow the public to present petitions. The problem that I am finding right now is there are a number of concerns that have arisen, but I do not find it so important an issue that it takes up all this time for debate. I would suggest to my colleagues if the concept is good, then maybe we have to go back to the drawing board and redraft a solution so we can satisfy the concerns that Members have raised. We have to be clear and satisfy the concerns, not only of Members, but also the public. I agree with my honourable colleagues, we do not want the public to use the process for frivolous matters, but at the same time they may be issues that are important for us to raise and address as a Legislature. I have been sitting here and listening to Members and I can appreciate the concerns that you have raised, but I am going to ask my colleagues if you are not happy with this, maybe you could recommend that we review it and report back to the Members again.

Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps we should also make it clear that any petitions should go through the Member to the House and that will solve the issue.

Mr. Chairman, I was going to defer it, but the chairman has indicated to me that he would rather withdraw it.