Welcome to Kawartha Lakes Online Petitions
At Kawartha Lakes, a petition is a document presented by the community to Council to voice their opinion on an issue of municipal importance. It is one of the best ways to express support of a matter to Council, however petition organizers should be diligent to fulfill the petition requirements to ensure their petition is considered valid before Council.
Petition Requirements
Petitions must be:
- 'signed' by at least 20 unique individuals
- have valid contact information for the petition organizer
Petitions may not be submitted where the subject relates to:
- current or pending litigation;
- insurance claims;
- administrative complaints that have not been reported to staff;
- issues beyond the jurisdiction of City Council; or
- matters that are contrary to the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
Petitions must also not appear to be signed and/or submitted in a fraudulent manner as determined by the Head of Council, CAO, and City Clerk.
For more details on Kawartha Lakes petitions and processes, please visit Petitions and Correspondence to Council.
No Petition Required?
Some municipal matters do not require a petition to Council for action from the municipality. These include basic service requests like potholes, road grading, signage, street sweeping, weeds on highways, litter cleanup, tree planting, snowplowing requests. Please visit the municipal Report It Page to report standard service requests.
Requests for more technical traffic issues are recommended to first be reviewed by municipal Engineering staff prior to submitting a petition, including:
- Speeding issues
- Traffic Calming (speed bumps, curb bump-outs, traffic bollards, etc.)
- Roundabouts
- New stop signs
- New traffic signals
- Crosswalks
- Streetlights for intersection illumination
- Heavy Truck restrictions
- Parking restrictions
If your proposed petition is for one of the above issues in your neighbourhood, please complete the Kawartha Lakes Safe Streets Form before submitting an Online Petition Request form. If Engineering staff advise that no action is recommended, then you may proceed with an Online Petition request to override the decision of staff. However, it is possible that Engineering staff will be able to take action without you having to organize a petition.
Petition Privacy
The City of Kawartha Lakes is committed to protecting personal information and upholding its obligations under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. However, as petitions are designed to share with elected officials a list of who supports a particular initiative, all signers and organizers of petitions waive all expectation of privacy as a result of the petition being created for review by the general public at a meeting of Council.
This means that the petition may be reviewed by members of City Council, placed in its entirety on the City's website (including contact information of each signer), or released to a member of the public under a Freedom of Information Request. Members of the public seeking to ensure their privacy is protected may submit a 'confidential' letter of support or opposition to City Council regarding any petition or item on a City Council agenda by emailing agendaitems@kawarthalakes.ca or submitting the letter in person to the City Clerk's Office.
To Start a Petition Online
Once you're familiar with Kawartha Lakes' petition requirements and conditions, please complete the Online Petition Form under Start a Petition below to submit a petition request.
To Sign a Petition Online
It is preferred that registered participants of Jump In Kawartha Lakes sign an online petition.
If you're already registered for Jump In Kawartha Lakes, please sign in and select the petition you wish to support from the Sign a Petition list below.
If you have not previously registered, please see the following steps:
- Please visit the Jump In Kawartha Lakes homepage, click "Register" in the top-right corner and follow the prompts to register. A confirmation email with an activation link will be provided once you've provided your information.
- Once you have activated your registration, please sign in and select the petition you would like to support from the Sign a Petition list below.
Petition Disclaimer
The City of Kawartha Lakes does not support, endorse or detract from any online petition until a formal resolution regarding this matter is adopted by City Council. The City of Kawartha Lakes also does not take responsibility for, and cannot attest to the factual accuracy of the background material, as it has been solely provided by the Petition Organizer.
