Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
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Template:Canadian politics In Canada the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the lower house and is elected by fellow MPs. The Speaker's role in Canada is similar to that of Speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system (see Speaker of the House of Commons). The current Speaker is Ontario Liberal MP Peter Milliken.
Traditionally in Canada the Speaker was appointed by the Prime Minister, but 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. 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 Speaker of the House of Commons receives a salary of about $209,000 (Cdn) and has use of the official residence, the Kingsmere estate outside Gatineau, Quebec, just across the river from Ottawa.
The Speaker's counterpart in the upper house is the Speaker of the Canadian Senate.
Canadian provincial and territorial legislatures also have Speakers with much the same roles.
On Thursday, May 19, 2005, the Speaker was required to cast the tie-breaking vote for the first time in Canadian history. Faced with the defeat of Paul Martin's minority government, Milliken voted to defeat the Opposition parties' motion of no confidence. This was not considered an unusual choice according to constitutional experts. Marleau and Montpetit's House of Commons Practice and Procedure makes it clear: "The Speaker would normally vote the status quo."
Procedures
After an election by secret ballot, the speaker is dragged to the chair. The tradition is borrowed from Britain, where speakers of the House once ran the risk of losing their heads to irritated regents.
List of Federal Speakers
- James Cockburn - June 11, 1867 - March 5, 1874 Conservative
- Timothy Warren Anglin - March 26, 1874 - February 12, 1879 Liberal
- Joseph Godéric Blanchet - February 13, 1879 - February 7, 1883 Liberal-Conservative
- George Airey Kirkpatrick - February 8, 1883 - July 12, 1887 Conservative
- Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet - July 13, 1887 - July 28, 1891 Conservative
- Peter White - July 29, 1891 - August 18, 1896 Conservative
- James David Edgar - August 19, 1896 - July 31, 1899 Liberal
- Thomas Bain - August 1, 1899 - February 5, 1901 Liberal
- Louis Philippe Brodeur - February 6, 1901 - January 18, 1904 Liberal
- Napoléon Antoine Belcourt - March 10, 1904 - January 10, 1905 Liberal
- Robert Franklin Sutherland - January 11, 1905 - January 19, 1909 Liberal
- Charles Marcil - January 20, 1909 - November 14, 1911 Liberal
- Thomas Simpson Sproule - November 15, 1911 - December 2, 1915
- Albert Sévigny - January 12, 1916 - January 7, 1917 Conservative
- Edgar Nelson Rhodes - January 18, 1917 - March 5, 1922 Conservative
- Rodolphe Lemieux - March 8, 1922 - June 2, 1930 Liberal
- George Black - September 8, 1930 - January 16, 1935 Conservative
- James Langstaff Bowman - January 17, 1935 - February 5, 1936 Conservative
- Pierre-François Casgrain - February 6, 1936 - May 10, 1940 Liberal
- James Allison Glen - May 16, 1940 - September 5, 1945 Liberal
- Gaspard Fauteux - September 6, 1945 - September 14, 1949 Liberal
- William Ross Macdonald - September 15, 1949 - June 11, 1953 Liberal
- Louis-René Beaudoin - November 12, 1953 - October 13, 1957 Liberal
- Roland Michener - October 14, 1957 - September 26, 1962 Progressive Conservative
- Marcel Lambert - September 27, 1962 - May 15, 1963 Progressive Conservative
- Alan Macnaughton - May 16, 1963 - January 17, 1966 Liberal
- Lucien Lamoureux - January 18, 1966 - September 29, 1974 Liberal/Independent++
- James Alexander Jerome - September 30, 1974 - December 14, 1979 Liberal
- Jeanne Sauvé - April 14, 1980 - January 15, 1984 Liberal
- Cyril Lloyd Francis - January 16, 1984 - November 4, 1984 Liberal
- John William Bosley - November 5, 1984 - September 29, 1986 Progressive Conservative
- John Allen Fraser - September 30, 1986 - January 16, 1994 Progressive Conservative
- Gilbert Parent - January 17, 1994 - January 28, 2001 Liberal
- Peter Milliken - January 29, 2001 - present Liberal
++Lamoureaux emulated the tradition of the Speaker of the British House of Commons and ran for re-election as an Independent MP in the 1968 and 1972 general elections.
External link
- Parliamentary Library of Canada (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/SP-BL/hoc-cdc/sp_hoc-e.htm) - contains biographies of all of Canada's speakers and information on the historical development and current role of the position.