Crowded field of candidates expected in House Speaker’s election on Oct. 3

At least nine candidates are so far running for the House’s top job, which carries a salary of $274,500, after former House Speaker Anthony Rota was forced to resign on Sept. 26. The position opened up after Rota (Nipissing-Timiskaming, Ont.) extended an invitation to Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old guest from his riding, to attend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's joint parliamentary address on Sept. 22. As Speaker, Rota honoured his constituent who was sitting in the gallery, introducing him as both a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero in the House of Commons. But it turned out that Hunka had fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War. The House gave Hunka two standing ovations without knowing his background. Rota was criticized for failing to do proper vetting before honouring a former Nazi solider in the House. Rota acknowledged his inadvertent mistake, apologized publicly twice, and resigned on Sept. 26. Shortly after Rota stepped down as Speaker, a number of MPs had either already started campaigning or were testing the waters. Among those who campaigning include: Liberal MPs Alexandra Mendès (Brossard-Saint-Lambert, Que.); Stéphane Lauzon (Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation, Que.); Greg Fergus (Hull-Aylmer, Que.), Peter Schiefke (Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Que.) and Sean Casey (Charlottetown, P.E.I.). Conservative MPs Chris d’Entremont (West Nova, N.S.) and Tom Kmiec (Calgary Shepard, Alta.) were also campaigning for the House’s top job. So were NDP MP Carol Hughes (Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Ont.) and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.). All MPs, with the exception of recognized party leaders in the Commons and cabinet ministers, are automatically considered candidates unless they inform the House clerk on the election day that they are not. The new Speaker will be elected on Oct. 3. The election of the House Speaker is conducted through a secret ranked ballot, and voting will take place in person in the Commons. The House speaker's position opened up last week after the unexpected resignation of Anthony Rota. MPs will elect a new speaker on Oct. 3. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Under this system, MPs will vote for all nine candidates, ranking them from one to nine, in order of preference. If none of the candidates wins 50 per cent plus one of the votes after the first ballot, the ballots belonging to the candidate who ranked last are eliminated, and his or her votes will go to the remaining candidates. This process continues until one of the candidates receives the majority of the vote. MPs cast their vote only once, but ballots continue to be redistributed by dropping the last-place finisher until a clear winner emerges. In the current House, the Liberal Party has 158 seats, the Conservatives 117, the Bloc Québécois 32, the NDP 25, the Greens two seats, and there are three Independent MPs. Twelve-term Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon (Bécancour-Nicolet-Saurel, Que.), the "dean" of the House as longest-serving current MP, will preside over the House Speaker's election. The Speaker’s position is like the mayor of the House of Commons. In addition to the salary, the Speaker gets an official residence in the Gatineau Hills, known as The Farm or Kingsmere; an apartment in West Block; a chauffeur; and an office budget of $1.38-million. The Speaker also gets to travel internationally on inter-parliamentary trips; hosts receptions for diplomats, international dignitaries, and heads of states visiting Canada; and is regularly invited to diplomatic receptions. The House Speaker is the chair of the powerful House Board of Internal Economy Committee, and oversees the Commons’ annual budget of approximately $598-million. The House administration, procedure, legal services, security, and maintenance divisions all report to the House Speaker. In the House, the Speaker presides over House proceedings including the daily 45-minute Question Period, interprets rules and traditions, manages procedure, maintains order, and is the custodian of MPs’ rights and privileges. The Speaker never takes part in the House debates, and casts a vote only in case of a tie. House Speakers do not attend weekly national caucus meetings that take place every Wednesday morning when the House is sitting, according to the rules of the House. “I am letting my name stand as a candidate for the Speakership, as I believe my past four years as Assistant Deputy Speaker have allowed to me to learn how very important experience, knowledge and humour are an important part of the job,” said Mendès, who is also currently the assistant deputy speaker, in an email to The Hill Times. “I am passionate about parliamentary procedure and parliamentarians’ rights. And I’ve loved these past four years listening to the many voices who represent our country!” All candidates seeking the Speaker’s job said that it’s not clear to them precisely how the controversy that led to Rota’s resignation took place. All of them said that whoever is elected would get briefings from the responsible offices to understand where the system failed, and to put in place measures to ensure it never happens again. “We have to have a serious look at when we do have joint sessions of Parliament when we have invitees, and exactly how the vetting actually works,” said d’Entremont, the current deputy speaker, in an interview with The Hill Times. “From a protocol standpoint, there's two or three different versions of protocol. We have to figure out who was responsible for what and make sure that never happens again.” D’Entremont said that before the election on Oct. 3, he might come up with an understanding with Kmiec that one of the two candidates run so that the Conservative caucus vote is not divided. Kmiec was not available for an interview last week. D’Entremont and other candidates interviewed for this article said that to seek support from MPs of all parties, they’re speaking with their colleagues in the parliamentary hallways, emailing them, and texting them. So far, all said, they’re receiving positive responses from MPs on both sides of the House, and are putting together their lists of support, and who they need to reach out to. “People, of course, know me and the time I spent in the chair, they know that I'm pretty fair, and a little bit of light humour, and my Acadian background sort of allows me to sort of get up and be above the fray and get people to calm down and continue the debate,” said d’Entremont. “So, I'm pretty happy with my performance.” For his part, Lauzon said that since getting elected as an MP in 2015, he’s worked with 12 cabinet ministers as parliamentary secretary. As a Quebec MP, he said he's had a great working relationship with all Bloc Québécois MPs, which is the third-place party in the House with 32 MPs. “I learned how to be a team player, I learned to be firm,” said Lauzon. “And I've always been fair. So that's, that's all my skills to be the next .” In addition, Lauzon said, he was optimistic he would receive support from his own caucus and the other opposition parties, as well. Hughes, who is also currently the assistant deputy speaker, told The Hill Times that it’s been decades since there has been a female House Speaker. In the history of the House, there’s been only one female House Speaker, Jeanne Sauvé, who held the position from 1980-1984. So, Hughes said, it’s time that MPs choose a woman as the next Speaker. In her pitch to MPs seeking their support, Hughes wrote: “It has been over 40 years since a woman held the position of Speaker. Colleagues, some of you were not even born when Jeanne Sauvé took her historic turn in the chair. To date, she is not just the first, but the only woman to have served as Speaker.” arana@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Crowded field of candidates expected in House Speaker’s election on Oct. 3

To elect the new House speaker, MPs will vote in person using the ranked ballot system.

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