The speaker of the House of Commons (french: président de la Chambre des communes) is the presiding officer of the lower house of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...

. A

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP), they are elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

's role in presiding over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

's House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system. The 37th and current speaker of the House of Commons is Anthony Rota, since December 5, 2019. The speaker with the longest tenure is Peter Milliken who was elected for four consecutive terms lasting 10 years, 124 days.

Role

In Canada it is the speaker's responsibility to manage the House of Commons and supervise its staff. It is also the speaker's duty to act as a liaison with the Senate and

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

. They are to rule over the house and have the government answer questions during the question period as well as keep decorum with the house. The speaker receives a salary of CA$274,500 ($185,800 as an MP in addition to $88,700 as speaker) and has use of a small apartment, in the House of Commons, and an

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

, The Farm, an estate located at Kingsmere in

Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region, Gatineau Park is a wedge of land extendin ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, across the river from

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

. for the management of the House of Commons campus, and the 2,000 individuals who work there. In 2015 the speaker managed a budget of $414 million. Along with the Senate speaker, the speaker of the House is responsible for the Parliamentary Protective Service, which provides security to Parliament Hill with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

(RCMP). The term "speaker" originates from the British parliamentary tradition. The French term now used in Canada is french: président, label=none (president, chairperson, or presiding officer); the term french: orateur, label=none'','' a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

(literal translation) of "speaker" and formerly the term used in France for the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, was used until a few decades ago. The speaker and their deputies preside over debates of the House of Commons, invite particular members to speak, maintain order and decorum (including reproving members who misbehave), and make rulings on

points of order In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly. Explanation and uses In ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a point of order may be rai ...

and points of privilege. By parliamentary rule and tradition, all statements in the House are addressed to the speaker, never to another member. For example, one does not say, "Mr. Prime Minister, will you explain to this House...", or "Thank you for the question." Instead, one would say, "Mr. Speaker, will the Prime Minister explain to this House..." or "Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question." Members are not allowed to speak while the speaker is speaking, and must sit down when the speaker rises to speak. By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as "Mr. Speaker," for a man, and "Madam Speaker", for a woman. Deputies of the speaker who are presiding at a given time are also addressed as "Mr./Madam Speaker."

Election

While the Constitution requires that the speaker be elected by the House of Commons, traditionally this amounted to the rubber-stamp approval of an MP nominated by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. However, in 1986 this was changed and they are now selected by secret ballot. The speaker remains a sitting MP, but only votes on matters in the case of a tie. All MPs except for

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

ministers and party leaders are eligible to run for speaker. Any MP who does not wish to put their name forward must issue a letter withdrawing from the ballot by the day before the vote. All MPs who do not remove their name from the ballot as of 6pm the day before the election are listed as candidates on the ballot and are allowed a five-minute speech to persuade their colleagues as to why they should be elected. The election is presided over by the dean of the House, currently Louis Plamondon, who is the longest continuously serving MP who is not in Cabinet. All candidates who receive less than 5% of the vote are removed from the ballot. If no candidate received less than 5% of the vote then the MP with the fewest vote drops off. This continues, with a one-hour break between ballots, until one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. In the event of a tie on the final ballot, the ballot is taken again. This happened once, in 1993, when Gilbert Parent won over

Jean-Robert Gauthier Jean-Robert Gauthier, (October 22, 1929 – December 10, 2009) was a Canadian politician. A chiropractor by training, he entered politics as trustee on a local school board. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada to represent th ...

. The winner is escorted to the speaker's chair by the prime minister and leader of the Official Opposition. The newly elected speaker, by tradition, feigns reluctance as they are "dragged" to the chair in a practice dating from the days when British speakers risked execution if the news they reported to the king was displeasing. On June 2, 2011, Conservative Andrew Scheer (

Regina—Qu'Appelle Regina–Qu'Appelle (formerly Qu'Appelle) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1968 and since 1988. Geography The district includes the northeastern qu ...

) was elected speaker, defeating the following MPs over the course of six ballots: New Democrat

Denise Savoie Denise Savoie (; born November 21, 1943) is a Canadian politician, who served as the federal Member of Parliament for Victoria from 2006 until 2012 representing the New Democratic Party. She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the ...

( Victoria (electoral district)) and Conservatives

Dean Allison Dean Allison (born February 18, 1965, in London, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2004 federal election for the riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook, now Niagara West. Allison is a member ...

(

Niagara West—Glanbrook Niagara West—Glanbrook was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that existed from 2004 to 2015. The riding was created in 2003 from parts of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot, Erie—Lincoln, Hamilton Mountain, Niagara C ...

), Barry Devolin ( Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock),

Ed Holder Edwin Anthony Holder (born July 14, 1954) is a Canadians, Canadian retired politician who served as the 64th Mayor of London, Ontario, mayor of London from 2018 to 2022.London West), Lee Richardson (

Calgary Centre Calgary Centre (french: Calgary-Centre; formerly known as Calgary South Centre) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. The riding consists of many young adu ...

Bruce Stanton Ronald Bruce Stanton (born December 20, 1957) is a Canadian politician who served as Member of Parliament for the riding of Simcoe North from 2006 to 2021. Stanton first ran as a member of the Conservative Party in the 2006 federal election ...

(

Simcoe North Simcoe North (french: Simcoe-Nord) is a federal electoral district in central Ontario, Canada. It was established as a federal riding in 1867. Demographics :''According to the Canada 2011 Census''; 2013 representation'' Ethnic groups: 87.8% ...

), and Merv Tweed ( Brandon—Souris). Scheer was the youngest Speaker in Canadian history. On December 2, 2015, Geoff Regan was elected speaker by members of the 42nd Parliament over fellow Liberal candidates Denis Paradis, Yasmin Ratansi and Conservative

. Regan won on the first ballot and is the first speaker from Atlantic Canada in nearly a hundred years since Nova Scotian

Edgar Nelson Rhodes Edgar Nelson Rhodes, (January 5, 1877 – March 15, 1942), was a Canadian parliamentarian from Nova Scotia who served as Premier of Nova Scotia from 1925 to 1930. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1908 as a member ...

in 1922. Anthony Rota was elected as 37th speaker on December 5, 2019, by winning a ranked ballot between himself, Joël Godin, Carol Hughes, Geoff Regan (the speaker during the previous Parliament), and

. Following Rota's win, the Conservatives said that he had them to thank for his new election, after they decided in a Conservative caucus meeting to unseat Regan as a show of strength to the Liberal minority government. They did so by ranking Regan further down on the ranked ballot.

Opposition speakers

The speaker usually comes from among MPs of the governing party. But because they cannot vote unless their vote would break a tie and by convention must vote to maintain the status quo (which includes voting confidence in the government), a minority government can slightly weaken the opposition's power by electing an opposition speaker. Speakers have been elected from opposition parties during the 1926 tenure of

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fr ...

's Conservative ministry, the 1979 ministry of Progressive Conservative Joe Clark, and

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

's Conservative Ministry from 2006 to 2011. In the 39th Parliament, three opposition members, Peter Milliken,

Diane Marleau Diane Marleau, (June 21, 1943 – January 30, 2013)" ...

and

Marcel Proulx Marcel Proulx (; born 6 March 1946 in L'Orignal, Ontario) is a retired Canadian politician. Proulx is a former member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, having represented the riding of Hull—Aylmer from 1999 ...

, ran for speaker. In 1957, when John Diefenbaker took power with a minority Progressive Conservative government, he offered the speaker's chair to Stanley Knowles of the opposition Co-operative Commonwealth Federation – the precursor to the New Democratic Party (NDP) – who declined. So far, every speaker from an opposition party has been a Liberal.

Impartiality

The speaker is required to perform their office impartially, but does not resign from their party membership upon taking office, as is done in the United Kingdom. Speaker Lucien Lamoureux decided to follow the custom of the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and ran in the 1968 election as an independent. Both the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party agreed not to run candidates against him. The New Democratic Party, however, declined to withdraw their candidate. Lamoureux was re-elected and continued to serve as speaker. However, in the 1972 election, the opposition parties did not come to an agreement and ran candidates against him. Lamoureux was again returned but no subsequent speakers have repeated his attempt to run as an independent. The opposition parties may have chosen not to follow the 1968 precedent because of how close the election was: it produced a Liberal minority government with just two more seats than the Conservatives.

Tie-breaking votes

On May 19, 2005, Speaker Peter Milliken was required to cast the tie-breaking vote during a confidence measure for the first time in Canadian history. Faced with the defeat of

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son ...

's minority government, Milliken voted in favour of the NDP budget amendment. Despite popular belief that the speaker, as a Liberal MP, would automatically support the government, his vote was pre-determined by other factors. As speaker, Milliken's vote must be cast to allow the continuation of debate, or to maintain the status quo, a reflection of

Speaker Denison's rule Speaker Denison's rule is a constitutional convention established by John Evelyn Denison, who was Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1857 to 1872, regarding how the Speaker decides on their casting vote in the event of a tie in the nu ...

practiced in the British House of Commons. Thus, the speaker voted in favour of

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

, "to allow the House time for further debate so that it can make its own decision at some future time." The bill would later pass third reading without the need for Milliken's vote. Speakers have only needed to vote in order to break a tie 11 times in Canadian parliamentary history. Milliken did so on five occasions, almost more than all previous speakers combined.

Deputy speaker

In addition to the speaker, a deputy speaker, also known as the Chair of Committees (of the whole,) is elected at the beginning of each parliament to act in place of the speaker when the latter is unavailable. Under the Standing Orders, the speaker, after consulting with each of the party leaders, nominates a candidate for deputy speaker to the House, which then votes on that nomination. The deputy speaker presides over daily sessions of the House when the speaker is not in the chair. The deputy speaker also chairs the House when it sits as a Committee of the Whole. Other presiding officers, the deputy chair of committees and the assistant deputy chair of committees, are chosen each session to occupy the chair when the speaker and deputy speaker are not available. The deputy speaker and the other presiding officers are members of the Panel of Chairs, and can therefore be selected by the speaker to chair legislative committees. Like the speaker, the deputy speaker has a role in administering the House. The deputy speaker of the 44th Canadian Parliament was

Chris d'Entremont Christopher André d'Entremont (born October 31, 1969) is a Canadian politician who has represented West Nova in the House of Commons since 2019, as a member of the Conservative Party. Before entering federal politics, he represented the Argyl ...

(Conservative); and the assistant deputy speaker was Carol Hughes (NDP). The Chair of Committees is vested by Subsection 43(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act with full and adequate authority to address matters in the titular Speaker's absence: "Whenever the House of Commons is informed of the unavoidable absence of the Speaker thereof by the Clerk at the table, the Chairman of Committees, if present, shall take the chair and perform the duties and exercise the authority of Speaker in relation to all the proceedings of the House, as Deputy Speaker."

Retirement

Most former speakers retire from Parliament after their tenure as speaker, sometimes after returning to the

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of th ...

for a period. Several have been appointed to diplomatic positions, summoned to the Senate, or appointed to a vice-regal position such as

lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-co ...

of a province or, in two cases,

governor general of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

( Roland Michener and Jeanne Sauvé). While several former Cabinet ministers have served as speaker or stood for the position, no former speakers have subsequently been appointed to Cabinet. One speaker, Andrew Scheer, has gone on to assume a

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

position in the House of Commons: Scheer became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2017 and served as leader of the Opposition from 2017 to 2020.

Honorary Speaker

On March 9, 2016 Liberal MP

Mauril Bélanger Mauril Adrien Jules Bélanger (June 15, 1955 – August 15, 2016) was a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he represented Ottawa—Vanier in the House of Commons through a by-election victory in 1995 until his death ...

served as honorary speaker for about an hour to honour his years of service. Speaker Regan resumed his duties for the remainder of the sitting of the House. Mauril Bélanger had initially been considered a front runner for the post of Speaker the previous year, but had withdrawn due to his being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Bélanger died on August 15, 2016, five months after being named honorary speaker.

Counterparts

The speaker's counterpart in the

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

is the

speaker of the Senate of Canada The speaker of the Senate of Canada (french: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamenta ...

. Canadian provincial and territorial

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

s also have speakers with much the same roles. The position was preceded by the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

List of speakers of the House of Commons

Key:

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , url = https://torontosun.com/news/national/speaker-geoff-regan-opens-door-to-secret-apartment-in-parliament/wcm/421da828-ee47-4228-9266-cdd1384f09ee , title = Speaker Geoff Regan opens door to secret apartment in Parliament , work =

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place in ...

, date = December 16, 2018 , access-date = December 16, 2018 , quote = One of the best-kept secrets inside the main building on Parliament Hill — known as Centre Block — is what’s inside room 202N. {{cite news , url = https://ottawamagazine.com/people-and-places/society/farewell-peter-milliken/ , title = Farewell to Peter Milliken , work = Ottawa magazine , date = March 25, 2011 , access-date = December 16, 2018 , quote = There are benefits for the 61-year-old bachelor to being Speaker: he has a small apartment just down the hall from his spacious offices and a grand official residence in Gatineau Park (the Farm), across the Ottawa River in Quebec. {{cite news , url = https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/27/andrew-scheer-speaker-house-commons_n_8665202.html , title = Andrew Scheer, Outgoing House Speaker, Reflects On Pressures, Perks Of Coveted Job , work = Huffington Post , author = Althia Raj , author-link = Althia Raj , date = November 27, 2015 , access-date = December 16, 2018 , quote = He or she is responsible for the administration of the Commons, the staff, the precinct's security, printing and postal services, and providing MPs funds and resources to do their job — an office that comes with an approximately $414 million budget. {{cite news , url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=67&v=Y_3Z0U6XdBo , title = Take a look at the Speakers secret Parliament apartment... , work =

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, author = Melanie Marquis, Ben Singer , date = December 16, 2018 , access-date = December 16, 2018 {{cite news , url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TETZ6bYG5Hc , title = Peter Miliken Speaker Of The House Canada Parliament Ottawa Brent Holland Show , work =

, author = Brent Holland , date = October 17, 2014 , access-date = December 16, 2018

External links

Parliamentary Library of Canada
- contains biographies of all of Canada's speakers and information on the historical development and current role of the position. Government of Canada * Westminster system