A lot of attention has been focused on the “Save Mass Effect” petition on Change.org, which has now drawn over 300,000 signatures collectively calling on Electronic Arts to make a new Mass Effect game.

But there’s another petition in the works, asking the government of Canada to save BioWare—the people, not the product—and while it only has a tiny fraction of names attached to it, it’s enough that the Canadian government will actually have to look at it.

Unlike the Change.org petition, this one is official, in that it’s actually part of the legislative process: Public petitions like e-7989, as it’s formally known, are “used to draw attention to an issue of public concern. They ask the House of Commons, the Government of Canada, a minister or a member to take or refrain from taking some action.”

The requested actions in this case are three:

• 1. Provide BioWare with the capital necessary to secure independence of themselves and their intellectual property from Electronic Arts and resume business as an independent, Canadian company;
• 2. Protect Canadian businesses and cultural institutions from being dictated by American and foreign corporate interests; and
• 3. Champion the values of inclusivity, tolerance, democracy, justice, and civil rights at the centre of Canada’s national identity by preserving BioWare’s invaluable contribution to the global entertainment industry.

As I write this, the petition is nosing toward 3,000 signatures, not a huge amount but enough to trigger the next step in the process. Once an electronic petition has at least 500 valid signatures—that is, the signature of a Canadian citizen or resident—it’s certified, at which point the Member of Parliament representing the petitioner can either present it during Routine Proceedings, or file it with the Clerk of the House.

There are various other rules and norms in place, but the important bit is that “the government must respond to every petition presented to the House within 45 calendar days of its presentation or filing with the Clerk.” Electronic petitions can be short-circuited by the dissolution of Parliament: Paper petitions can be re-presented to the House even if they were certified by a previous Parliament, but electronic petitions are wiped and must be restarted afresh.

The good news for committed videogame optimists is that, for many reasons, the current Canadian Parliament is not going to be dissolved anytime soon, so this petition to free BioWare from the fetters of EA isn’t going to just die on the vine. But, also for a variety of reasons, it’s not liable to lead to BioWare’s salvation, either.

For one thing, while New Democratic Party leader Avi Lewis expressed support for the idea of government intervention shortly after BioWare was closed by its new owners, the NDP is not in power right now and its attention is currently consumed by rebuilding after a decade of disastrous leadership. The government of Canada is also focused on other things at the moment, for instance the badly frayed relationship with our erratic, nuclear-tipped neighbor to the south, and while cheerleading companies like BioWare is great PR (and the current governing party loves that stuff), it’s not something that’s likely to inspire actual action.

Maybe the most salient roadblock is this: BioWare and its games are owned by Electronic Arts, which has shown no interest in selling them off. Even if the government of Canada were interested in floating BioWare the cash to go independent, it can’t buy what EA’s not selling—and historically, EA has not made a habit of letting go of its properties.

Still, the NDP is taking the matter seriously. “BioWare has cultivated an international following from their renowned videogame franchises like Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, and Dragon Age. Canada’s videogame industry creates some of our most important cultural exports, and BioWare was among our biggest success stories,” MP Don Davies, the sponsor of the petition, told PC Gamer.

“Electronic Arts, their American parent company, was never invested in the success of BioWare since they purchased the studio as part of a larger acquisition in 2007. This is a pattern with videogame publishers like EA. They buy smaller developers, set unrealistic timelines, overwork their employees, and meddle in the development process, resulting in poorer quality games. Then, when sales fail to meet expectations, they blame the developers, lay off workers, and eventually shut down the studio for short-term profit.

“New Democrats want BioWare to stay in business, preferably under Canadian control. We believe that the employees at BioWare ought to have the first opportunity to buy back their studio and continue making the games that fans love. The petition primarily asks the federal government to provide the required capital. This is absolutely possible. Our goal with the petition is to demonstrate just how many Canadians believe this is a worthwhile investment in our entertainment industry.”

I do think it’s something of a distant dream to expect the Canadian government to whip out the chequebook on this one, but that’s not to say that this public petition is a waste of time. There’s value in speaking out in support of good causes or opposition to bad ones, and this petition’s focus on BioWare and its people, rather than just ‘I want more Mass Effect,’ makes it worth getting behind. At the very least, we get a final, formal vocalization of support for the people that gave us so many great memories.

And who knows? This has been a pretty good week for good things happening, after all—maybe there’s still a little gas left in that tank.

The petition will be open for signatures until March 4, 2027. Add your name to the list at ourcommons.ca.