Canadian Mass Effect fans just cleared the first procedural bar in Ottawa. House of Commons e-petition e-7898, which asks the federal government to help BioWare secure independence from Electronic Arts and protect its intellectual property, opened Nov. 4 at 9:44 a.m. EDT and has already passed the 500 validated signatures needed for presentation.
As of this check the petition sits at about 1,774 validated signatures, led by Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. It remains open until March 4, 2027, at 9:44 a.m. EDT. New Democrat MP Don Davies of Vancouver Kingsway is the sponsoring member.
The text frames BioWare as a major Canadian cultural export shuttered by its American parent, now tied to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners through EA’s ownership story. Petitioners ask Ottawa to provide capital for an independent Canadian reboot of the studio, shield cultural businesses from foreign corporate dictates, and treat BioWare’s catalog as part of national soft power.
Clearing 500 signatures means the petition can be presented in the House. It does not mean funding is approved, that BioWare has reopened, or that EA has agreed to sell anything. A government response is only required after presentation, and the petition is still gathering names for months.
The campaign lands days after RCG’s own wrap on why BioWare really closed and the wider EA ownership fight. Fans are translating grief into a parliamentary form — a long-shot policy ask bolted onto a beloved RPG franchise.
Whether Ottawa treats e-7898 as serious industrial policy or polite fan mail will not be clear until the petition closes and, if presented, draws a written reply. Until then the accurate scoreboard is narrower: a Commons petition exists, it cleared the presentation threshold in roughly a day, and BioWare’s future is still not a settled government file.
