Justice Centre President John Carpay answers your questions about petitions
To date, tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a Justice Centre petition in defence of a free Canada, including the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63), privacy rights, and the illegal prorogation of Parliament, to name a few examples. If you have signed one of our petitions, I thank you for participating actively in your democracy.
Understandably, some Canadians are skeptical about petitions, their impact, and what happens behind the scenes.
For some, the question “Why petitions?” expresses a pessimism about the influence that one petition signature can have on power structures that often seem deaf to public opinion.
For others, the question “Why petitions?” expresses a cynicism about the motivations of organizations hosting petitions, and how they may be using their information.
These are valid concerns, and I seek to address them.
“What does my signature accomplish?”
First, petitions are educational. Petitions inform Canadians about critical legal, political, and technological developments threatening their individual freedom, privacy, and democracy. I have heard many Canadians tell me that they have learned for the first time about such threats from our petitions. Your signature further serves to educate elected representatives about shortcomings in their laws, policies, and decisions. In many cases, those in power are simply unaware that their activities have a negative impact on the people to whom they are accountable.
Second, petitions bring Canadians together. Often, Canadians feel that their fears and concerns are experienced in isolation. Your signature is a sign to other Canadians, near and far, that they are not alone. Every signature lowers the “social cost” of speaking out against unjust laws and policies of powerful governments. And, indeed, there is often a social cost to challenging power.
Third, petitions work, if not immediately, then in the long run. Like other methods of public advocacy, some petitions might be ineffective in isolation, but they make for a powerful component of grassroots movements that successfully apply political pressure through social media, independent media outlets, peaceful demonstrations, email and phone campaigns to Members of Parliament, and lawsuits.
Petitions do work. In April 2024, I had the privilege of delivering 55,500 petition signatures against the Online Harms Act to the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa. That legislation later broke apart and ultimately died on the order paper in January 2025. Many credit the persistent advocacy of civil liberties group, including the Justice Centre and the Canadians we mobilized, in the demise of what I consider to be the most serious legislative threat to freedom of expression in modern Canadian history.
Politicians are not likely to admit that your petition signature influenced their decision. And yet, each signature of our petition against the Online Harms Act contributed one piece to a “mosaic of advocacy” that protected our internet from increased regulation and surveillance.
“How is my data used?”
At the Justice Centre, we ask for signers to share enough information so that the recipient of the petition (e.g., the Prime Minister) can verify that you exist and that you are a citizen or resident of Canada. We ask for your full name, your postal code, and your email address. The recipient of the petition needs this information in order to know that she or he is seeing the signatures of Canadians.
We ask for less information than many other organizations. For instance, petitions posted in the House of Commons ask signers for the above information in addition to phone numbers.
Within the Justice Centre, only three employees have access to the data provided by petition signers. Every member of the Justice Centre team is bound by strict confidentiality agreements. Your data is not sold to or shared with third parties. At the Justice Centre, we value privacy so much that we have even published a report on the value of informational privacy.
While some petition signers choose to opt-in to receive email updates from the Justice Centre, our subscribers can unsubscribe at any time. It is easy to unsubscribe, but if you need help doing so, I invite you to reach out to info@jccf.ca.
We do hope that everyone who signs a petition opts-in to receive our emails and, ultimately, becomes a donor. The Justice Centre is a registered charity, and we rely entirely on voluntary donations to defend freedom in courts of law and in the court of public opinion. We receive no government funding to do our work of educating the public about the value of freedom through our courses, podcast, columns, and reports.
We also understand that not everyone is in a position to donate, and not every inbox has room for our email updates. Even signing our petition is a significant and appreciated demonstration of support for a free Canada.
Democracy is hard work and requires persistence
So, why petitions?
The question about the value of signing a petition is akin to questions about the value of voting, joining a political party, or emailing your concerns to your MP and your provincial elected representative.
How loud is your voice? How influential?
Close races for school boards, city councils, provincial legislatures and our federal Parliament are sometimes won (and lost) by 100 or even 50 votes, when tens of thousands of ballots are cast. When a very small percentage of the voting public stays home, it can have a huge impact on election outcomes.
What applies to votes in elections is also true of social media, peaceful demonstrations, petitions, and phone calls and emails sent to elected officials. Even in a country of 40 million people, every voice matters and every voice counts.
The cost of inactivity is intolerable. As the old French proverb states, “If you don’t do politics, then politics will be done unto you.”
Democracy is difficult because it requires humility, courage, and persistence.
Still, a multitude of voices cannot be ignored. But the multitude is made up of individuals who peacefully exercise their freedom of expression, and who take seriously their responsibility as citizens of a democracy.
The fruit of peaceful opposition to government overreach can be hard to detect and long to harvest, but this does not mean that there is no fruit. Democracy sown with persistence and humility yields a return.
Yours sincerely,
John Carpay, B.A., LL.B.
President and Founder
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
Please sign our petition to Re-Open Parliament Immediately.
