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Joe Preston and the Commons

Confederation: The Commons hopes to be accepting digital petitions after the next federal election, part of an effort to update the archaic paper-only petition system that been in place since Confederation. "I think we'll look back 10 years from now and say, 'You know, that was wise, that was one of the good things we did,'" said Conservative MP Joe Preston, who heads up the committee recommending the change, which was originally proposed by NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, according to Guelph Mercury. Currently, petitions have to be presented by MPs — an eye-glazing bit of procedure that occasionally raises eyebrows, such as when Green party Leader Elizabeth May introduced one last year from conspiracy theorists seeking the "truth" behind the 9/11 attacks. And while it won't mean Canadians will be able to easily solicit the federal government thoughts on a made-in-Canada Death Star, the House of Commons will also soon acknowledge grassroots entreaties in electronic form. May said she didn't support the cause, but believed in the organization right to have their voices heard. Members of Parliament will have to decide whether they'll follow May lead and support petitions on principle, or only back the causes they support, said digital public affairs strategist Mark Blevis of the proposed rules. "They are trying to avoid noise and they want to make sure people are doing things, providing productive input," Blevis said. "Unfortunately, you lose out on things like the Death Star, which gives the opportunity to engage with the public in a fun way." To get an answer — it turned out to be no — on building a Death Star, the petition to the White House had to amass 25,000 signatures. Under the new system, a person would have to find an MP to back their petition even before they began gathering signatures. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.