Parliament

The Speaker

The Role of the Speaker

The Speakership, like Parliament itself, developed in Great Britain over many hundreds of years. Not until the late seventeenth century did the Speaker, originally one of the King's advisors, became the undisputed servant of the Commons. Over the next hundred and fifty years the idea developed that the British Speaker should refrain from involvement in party politics either inside or outside the House.

At various stages of its development the Speakership was exported to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries where it was modified in the light of local conditions. Even when responsible government was achieved the Canadian Speakership retained a highly political dimension. The first business of every new Parliament is the election of a Speaker for without a Speaker, the House cannot carry on any business.

The Speaker's role can be divided into three distinct categories - ceremonial, quasi-judicial and administrative - although the relative importance of each has changed over the years. The least onerous duties relate to the largely ceremonial role as spokesman for the House to the Senate and to the Crown. The Speaker reads messages from the Governor General, presents bills for Royal Assent, announces the result of any vote in the House and brings to the attention of the House all matters affecting the rights and privileges of members.

More important is the quasi-judicial function of presiding over proceedings in the House. Although the Speaker is the servant of the House, the Chair's control over question period and debate is all-pervasive. The Speaker calls on members to speak, rules on points of order, decides whether a matter of privilege should take precedence over other business, represses disorder should it arise, decides whether or not an emergency debate can be granted and generally interprets the Standing Orders in accordance with precedent.

Various ceremonies and customs have developed to accentuate the independent authority of the Speaker. The Mace, symbol of the authority of Parliament, is borne before the Speaker when on entering and leaving the Chamber. It is placed on the table in front of the Speaker and stays there while the House is in session. The Speaker sits upon an elaborately carved wooden chair mounted on a dais giving a commanding view of the chamber. All speeches must be addressed to the Chair. When the Speaker rises all microphones are cut off and the member who has the floor must sit down. Even the Speaker's costume is designed to impress. It consists of court dress under a black silk gown together with a black tricorn hat and white gloves. The Speaker is accorded fifth place in the official Order of Precedence following the Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Speaker of the Senate. The salaries and allowances of the Speaker are the same as for a cabinet minister and the Speaker also has use of an official residence. Upon retirement a Speaker is usually made a member of the Privy Council. He or she may be offered an appointment to the bench, a Senatorship, an ambassadorship or some other high public office.

In addition to all the other demands the Speaker is the head of a large administrative department responsible for providing a wide range of services to Members of Parliament. The Speaker chairs the Board of Internal Economy which prepares the budget for the House. The Speaker may appear before standing committees to explain the House's estimates.

General elections pose a special dilemma. Having sought to establish and maintain a reputation for impartiality the Speaker faces the prospect of either running as an independent or seeking the nomination of a political party. The former choice may be tantamount to defeat; the latter may jeopardize any ability to continue in the Chair.

How the Speaker is Chosen

1867-1986

From Confederation to 1986 the ritual for choosing speakers changed very little. On the day fixed by Proclamation for the initial meeting of Parliament the newly assembled members of the Commons gathered in their Chamber to await a message summoning them to the Senate. They proceeded to the Senate Chamber where the Speaker of the Senate formally asked them to return to the House to elect their own Speaker. This election used to be conducted by the Clerk of the House of Commons. He would recognize the Prime Minister who would make a short speech on the importance of the Speakership and nominate a member to take the Chair. The Leader of the Opposition, if consulted, usually approved the choice. Other party leaders spoke briefly and there being no further nominations the Clerk put the question and declared the new Speaker elected. He or she was then escorted to the Chair by the mover and seconder of the nomination. From 1867 to 1986 no Speaker had been opposed for the nomination and only twice did the House divide over the question.

Since 1986

Following recommendations of a Special Committee on Reform of the House of Commons an important change in the way the Speaker is elected was adopted in 1986. The election is now conducted by secret ballot. All MPs except party leaders and ministers are automatically nominated unless they inform the Clerk of the House in writing that they do not wish to stand for election. On the first day of a new Parliament the MP with the longest period of unbroken service presides over the election. A ballot is distributed with the names of all candidates who have not withdrawn. The votes are counted by the Clerk in private. The candidate with the least votes is eliminated as are all candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote. Unless someone has 50% of the vote a revised list of candidates is then distributed. The voting continues until one person has a majority. Throughout the balloting no details are released about the number of votes cast for each candidate and after the final vote all ballots are destroyed. This new election process has been criticized by some for the amount of time it takes to select a Speaker. However there is no doubt that the prestige and authority of Presiding Officers have been enhanced by this process. The new system of election symbolizes the main concern of contemporary parliamentary reformers who have sought to give the elected representatives a greater say in what goes on in their Chamber. The parliamentary agenda has always been dominated by a few individuals - party leaders, House leaders, Whips. Some would argue that responsible government demands that it be so. But party discipline has gone too far if individual members feel their only function is to approve proposals put before them by party leaders.

Making members responsible for choosing their own presiding officer instead of ratifying one chosen for them by the Prime Minister is a small step toward greater political maturity. If members are unhappy about the performance of some future Speaker they have no one to blame but themselves. Similar if a Speaker makes a serious mistake he or she is more likely to be called to account rather than propped up by a government seeking to avoid embarrassment. The entire election process seeks to emphasize the idea that the opinion of an individual MP counts for something.

The secret ballot also laid to rest a convention that had outlived its usefulness - the tradition of alternating between francophone and anglophone Speakers. French and English have been official languages of the House since Confederation but for many years only French-Canadian members were bilingual. Thus the choice of an anglophone Speaker forced French-Canadians to speak English if they wished to be understood by the chair. In the era before simultaneous translation the fairest solution that could be devised was to alternate the Speakership between the two language groups and to create, in 1885, the position of Deputy Speaker who was to be fluent in the language other than that of the Speaker.

With the advent of simultaneous translation in 1959, the existence of language-training programs over the past twenty years and the expansion of the number of assistants to the Speaker, the main argument in favour of alternation became a symbolic one. But the pool of talent available for and interested in the Speakership is relatively small. It became counterproductive to overlook individuals because they did not happen to be anglophone or francophone as dictated by the convention. The committee which recommended the secret ballot realized full well that if future votes broke down on strictly linguistic lines French-Canadians would always be in the minority. But in the final analysis the House of Commons is a bilingual institution and the linguistic ability of a candidate is a factor just like experience or knowledge of the rules.
(Source: Gary Levy. Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons. Ottawa : Library of Parliament, 1996.)

Other Parliamentary Officials

Deputy Speaker

Deputy Speakers are nominated to act on behalf of the Speaker when he or she is unavailable. From the Speaker of the House of Commons website: The primary roles of the Deputy Speaker and the other Presiding Officers are to support the Speaker in the Chamber in presiding over the business of the House, to take the Chair when the House sits as a Committee of the Whole and, on occasion, to chair legislative committees. In addition, the Deputy Speaker has certain administrative responsibilities. The Deputy Speaker usually serves on the Board of Internal Economy and is a member of the Executive Committee. When the House forms itself into a Committee of the Whole, it is the duty of the Chairman of Committees of the Whole to take the Chair.

The Clerk of the Senate

The Clerk of the Senate who is also the Clerk of the Parliaments is appointed by the Governor in Council as the Senate's chief executive officer and is ultimately responsible for its day-to-day operation. In the Chamber, the Clerk manages various aspects of the legislative process, from swearing-in of new Senators to advising the Speaker on parliamentary procedure and interpretation of the rules. As Clerk of the Parliaments, the Clerk is the custodian of all original Acts and certifies the authenticity of copies of these Acts.

The Clerk of the House of Commons

The Clerk of the House of Commons is appointed by the Governor in Council as the chief executive officer of the House of Commons and serves as Secretary to the Board of Internal Economy. The Clerk advises the Speaker and Members of the House of Commons on parliamentary procedure and practice, and keeps the official record of proceedings.

The Usher of the Black Rod

The Usher of the Black Rod, acting as a royal messenger, delivers all summons calling the House of Commons to hear the Speech from the Throne, which inaugurates a new Parliament or session, or to observe the Royal Assent ceremony, the final parliamentary step in making bills law. The title of the position comes from the ebony cane carried by the Usher and is a symbol of the office, designed specifically to knock on doors such as those of the House of Commons.

The Sergeant-at-Arms

The Sergeant-at-Arms is the officer of the House of Commons responsible for security within the Chamber at the direction of the Speaker. He bears the Mace - symbol of the authority of the House - when accompanying the Speaker in the daily parade into the Chamber and to the Senate at various times.

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Related Links

• Official website