12.8 All matters to be voted on in a referendum shall be in the form of a resolution, including a resolution to amend the Constitution, the Policy Declaration, or request a leadership review.  For clarity, all resolution proposals put forward by way of Petition to change any or all Sections or Articles of the Constitution are valid, provided they meet the criteria in section 12.4.

This addition makes it clear that any proposed change to the constitution by way of a referendum petition is valid, provided that the criteria in section 12.4 are met. National Council should not be invalidating petitions that are contrary to the existing constitution because any change, other than an addition to wording, must be contrary at least to the part of the existing constitution that it proposes to modify. On December 11, 2021, National Council dismissed a petition by claiming that the validity test in section 12.4 goes beyond the signature collection requirements in section 12.4. We believe that the section 12.4 validity test relates to just the signature collection requirements, and not judgement based on the content of the petition. This proposal clarifies the ambiguity that National Council used to invalidate a petition.