[shermanator]

Also, many of the gathered signatures that were on the petition were invalid as they either did not live in Calgary, or were missing items.

But the group not only failed to gather enough valid signatures to force council into action, many of names were of people who live in surrounding communities like Okotoks and Cochrane, said Barb Clifford, Calgary’s returning officer.

“There are certain things that must be on the petition,” Clifford said.

“They must have a printed name, a signature, complete address, the date of signing and it has to be witnessed by someone who takes an oath. Those are the basic things.”

Under the Municipal Government Act, a petition must have valid signatures equal to or greater than 10% of a jurisdiction’s population, which in Calgary would be be 123,092 electors. The Ready to Engage petition was submitted with 3,390 names, of which 1,225 were removed for missing the legislative requirements.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the petition didn’t serve much purpose but caused “time and trouble and money” for the city.

“Normally, a petition like this you would just table at council,” Nenshi said.
“But for some reason, the proponents of this petition wanted it properly certified through the Municipal Government Act process which cost a bunch of time and money.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/04/19...ansit-petition