As an example, the following petition asks the Government of Canada to explore alternatives to Twitter/X, such as decentralised networks. I see the petition was already linked elsewhere on Lemmy but it is not clear how many people actually took action on creating a petition account.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359 e-5359 (Government services and administration)
"We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to transition official government communications away from Twitter/X to more secure, community-regulated platforms that prioritise public safety, accurate information, and accessibility. We encourage the government to explore publicly accountable alternatives, including decentralised networks, to ensure reliable and responsible communication with Canadians."
The request here is to do more than upvote a Fediverse thread. The request is to spend the time to create a petition account and upvote the petition.
To create a petition account, a person must be a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada. Other people can simply provide moral support on the Fediverse.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Account/Register
The petition account needs a person's name, email, phone, and address. The address will include the city and postal code but not the street address.
Fake information is not acceptable and "may be dealt with as a breach of privilege" https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_22_2-e.html Please do not create fake accounts.
Automatic email verification will be performed to confirm the creation of a petition account.
Good timing. I just saw another petition post and had some questions.
I haven't done enough research to confidently answer your second question but for your first one:
That is the official website of the House of Commons of Canada. The process varies a bit between paper petitions and e-petitions but essentially, once the petition is certified (has enough signatures (25 for paper petitions, 500 for e-petitions), is formatted properly, and an MP is willing to present it) it will then be presented in the House by the MP associated with the petition and the government then has 45 days to respond to the content, if they fail to respond within 45 days, the MP who presented the petition can designate a committee of the house to look into why the government failed to respond.
So it doesn't force the government to enact the content of the petition, but it forces the issue to be brought up in the House and forces the government to respond.
Source of most of that info: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/home/index