Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Speaker of the House of Commons
Incumbent Greg Fergus since October 3, 2023
House of Commons of Canada
Style	The Honourable (while in office) Mr. Speaker (in the Commons)
Member of	Parliament
Residence	The Farm
Appointer	Elected by the members of the House of Commons
Term length	Elected at the start of each Parliament
Inaugural holder	James Cockburn
Salary	CA$274,500

The Speaker of the House of Commons (called président de la Chambre des communes in French) is the person who leads the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. This person is a Member of Parliament (MP). They are chosen by other MPs at the start of every new parliament. The Speaker's job in leading Canada's House of Commons is much like that of Speakers in other countries that use the Westminster system of government.

The current Speaker, the 38th one, is Greg Fergus. He started this role on October 3, 2023. He became Speaker after the 37th Speaker, Anthony Rota, resigned. Greg Fergus is the first person of colour to be elected Speaker. The Speaker who held the job for the longest time was Peter Milliken. He was elected four times in a row, serving for over 10 years.

What Does the Speaker Do?

The Speaker in Canada is in charge of running the House of Commons. They also manage its staff. The Speaker acts as a link between the House of Commons and the Senate. They also connect with the King or Queen. Their main job is to lead debates and make sure everyone follows the rules. They also make sure the government answers questions during the "Question Period." The Speaker earns a salary of about CA$274,500 per year. They also get to use a small apartment in the House of Commons building. Plus, they have an official residence called The Farm. This estate is located in Kingsmere, Quebec, near Ottawa. In 2015, the Speaker managed a budget of $414 million for the House of Commons.

The Speaker of the House and the Speaker of the Senate work together. They are responsible for the Parliamentary Protective Service. This service helps keep Parliament Hill safe. They work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The word "speaker" comes from the British way of doing things in parliament. In Canada, the French word used now is président. This means president or chairperson. The old French word, orateur, was used until the early 1980s.

The Speaker and their helpers lead the debates in the House of Commons. They decide which members can speak. They also keep order and make sure everyone behaves. They make decisions on "points of order" and "points of privilege." These are rules about how debates should happen. By tradition, all comments in the House must be said to the Speaker. Members never speak directly to another member. For example, you would say, "Mr. Speaker, will the Prime Minister explain to this House...?" You would not say, "Prime Minister, will you explain to this House...?" Members must not speak when the Speaker is speaking. They must sit down when the Speaker stands up.

Usually, people in Parliament call the Speaker "Mr. Speaker" if he is a man. If she is a woman, they say "Madam Speaker." Sometimes, the Inuktitut term ᐅᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᔨ (Uqaqtittiji) is also used. The Speaker's helpers who are leading a debate are also called "Mr./Madam Speaker."

How the Speaker Is Chosen

The chamber of the House of Commons. The Speaker's chair is at the front and center.

A plaque at the western entrance of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill.

The Canadian Constitution says the Speaker must be chosen by the House of Commons. In the past, the prime minister would pick someone. The House would then just agree. But in 1986, this changed. Now, MPs choose the Speaker by secret ballot. The Speaker is still an MP. However, they only vote if there is a tie. If there is a tie, they usually vote to keep things as they are. This is called Speaker Denison's rule.

All MPs can run for Speaker. The only ones who cannot are Cabinet ministers and party leaders. If an MP does not want to run, they must send a letter to say so. This must be done by the day before the vote. All MPs who do not remove their name are listed as candidates. They each get five minutes to tell their colleagues why they should be chosen.

The Dean of the House oversees the election. The current Dean is Louis Plamondon. He is the MP who has served the longest without being in Cabinet.

In the election, candidates who get less than 5% of the votes are removed. If no one gets less than 5%, the candidate with the fewest votes is removed. This continues with a one-hour break between votes. It goes on until one candidate gets more than 50% of the votes. If there is a tie in the final vote, they vote again. This happened once in 1993. Gilbert Parent won over Jean-Robert Gauthier.

After someone wins, the prime minister and the leader of the Official Opposition walk them to the Speaker's chair. By tradition, the new Speaker pretends not to want the job. They are "dragged" to the chair. This tradition comes from old times in Britain. Back then, British Speakers could be executed if they brought bad news to the king.

On June 2, 2011, Andrew Scheer from the Conservative Party was elected Speaker. He was the youngest Speaker in Canadian history at the time. On December 2, 2015, Geoff Regan from the Liberal Party was elected. He was the first Speaker from Atlantic Canada in almost 100 years.

Anthony Rota was elected as the 37th Speaker on December 5, 2019. He won after several rounds of voting.

Speakers from Opposition Parties

The Speaker usually comes from the party that is in power. But the Speaker cannot vote unless there is a tie. And they usually vote to keep things the same. So, if a government has a minority of seats, choosing an opposition MP as Speaker can slightly reduce the opposition's power.

Speakers have been chosen from opposition parties before. This happened during the governments of Arthur Meighen (1926), Joe Clark (1979), and Stephen Harper (2006 to 2011). So far, all Speakers from opposition parties have been Liberals. Louis Plamondon, from the Bloc Québécois, was the interim Speaker in September 2023. He served until a new Speaker was elected.

Being Fair as Speaker

The Speaker must be fair in their job. However, they do not have to leave their political party when they become Speaker. In the United Kingdom, the Speaker does leave their party. Speaker Lucien Lamoureux, who was the 27th Speaker, tried to follow the British custom. He ran as an independent in the 1968 election. Both the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party agreed not to run candidates against him. But the New Democratic Party did not agree. Lamoureux was re-elected. He kept serving as Speaker. However, in the 1972 election, the other parties did not agree. They ran candidates against him. Lamoureux won again, but no Speakers after him have tried to run as an independent.

Tie-Breaking Votes

On May 19, 2005, Speaker Peter Milliken had to vote to break a tie. This was the first time this happened in Canadian history. The vote was about whether Paul Martin's minority government would stay in power. Milliken voted to support the budget change. Many people thought he would automatically support the government because he was a Liberal MP. But his vote was decided by other rules. As Speaker, Milliken's vote must allow debate to continue. Or it must keep things as they are. This is part of Speaker Denison's rule, which comes from the British House of Commons. So, the Speaker voted to allow the bill to continue. This gave the House more time to debate it. The bill later passed without Milliken needing to vote again.

Speakers have only needed to vote to break a tie 11 times in Canadian history. Milliken did this five times. This is almost more than all previous Speakers combined.

Deputy Speaker

Besides the Speaker, there is also a Deputy Speaker. This person is also called the Chair of Committees. They are chosen at the start of each parliament. They fill in for the Speaker when the Speaker is not available. The Speaker suggests a candidate for Deputy Speaker after talking with the leaders of all parties. Then the House votes on that person. The Deputy Speaker leads daily meetings of the House when the Speaker is not there. The Deputy Speaker also leads the House when it acts as a "Committee of the Whole." Other people, like the Deputy Chair of Committees and the Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees, are also chosen. They take the chair when the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are not available. The Deputy Speaker and these other officers are part of a group called the Panel of Chairs. The Speaker can choose them to lead special committees. Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker also helps manage the House.

For the 44th Canadian Parliament, Chris d'Entremont (Conservative) was the Deputy Speaker. Carol Hughes (NDP) was the Assistant Deputy Speaker.

The Chair of Committees has full power to act when the Speaker is away. This is stated in the Parliament of Canada Act.

After Being Speaker

Most former Speakers leave Parliament after their time as Speaker. Sometimes they go back to being a regular MP for a while first. Some have been given jobs as diplomats. Others have been asked to join the Senate. Some have even become a lieutenant-governor of a province. Two Speakers, Roland Michener and Jeanne Sauvé, even became Governor General of Canada. While some former Cabinet ministers have been Speaker, no former Speakers have later become Cabinet ministers. One Speaker, Andrew Scheer, later became a major leader in the House of Commons. He became the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2017. He served as Leader of the Opposition until 2020.

Interim Speaker

When Speaker Anthony Rota resigned on September 27, 2023, there was no Speaker. But the House still had meetings planned. To give time to choose a new Speaker, the House named Louis Plamondon of the Bloc Québécois as interim Speaker. This happened on September 27. He was chosen because he is the Dean of the House. This means he is the longest-serving MP who is not a cabinet member or party leader. The Dean of the House is always in charge of leading the election for a new Speaker at the start of a new Parliament.

Honorary Speaker

On March 9, 2016, Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger served as an honorary Speaker for about an hour. This was to celebrate his many years of service. Speaker Regan then took over his duties for the rest of the day.

Mauril Bélanger was thought to be a top choice for Speaker the year before. But he had to withdraw because he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Bélanger passed away on August 15, 2016. This was five months after he was named honorary Speaker.

Similar Roles in Other Places

The Speaker's job in the upper house is held by the speaker of the Senate of Canada. Canadian provinces and territories also have Speakers in their own legislatures. These Speakers have very similar jobs. Before the current role, there was a "speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada."

List of Speakers of the House of Commons

Key:

     Liberal Party of Canada      Historical conservative parties: Liberal-Conservative, Conservative, Unionist, National Liberal and Conservative, Progressive Conservative      Conservative Party of Canada      Bloc Québécois

No.	Portrait	Name Electoral district (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Term length	Party		Parliament
			Term start	Term end
1		James Cockburn MP for Northumberland West (1818–1883)	November 6, 1867	March 5, 1874	6 years, 99 days		Conservative	1st
								2nd
2		Timothy Anglin MP for Gloucester (1822–1896)	March 26, 1874	February 12, 1879	4 years, 323 days		Liberal	3rd
3		Joseph-Goderic Blanchet MP for Lévis (1829–1890)	February 13, 1879	February 7, 1883	3 years, 359 days		Liberal-Conservative	4th
4		George Airey Kirkpatrick MP for Frontenac (1841–1899)	February 8, 1883	July 12, 1887	4 years, 154 days		Conservative	5th
								6th
5		Joseph-Aldric Ouimet MP for Laval (1848–1916)	July 13, 1887	July 28, 1891	4 years, 15 days		Liberal-Conservative
								7th
6		Peter White MP for Renfrew North (1838–1906)	July 29, 1891	August 18, 1896	5 years, 21 days		Conservative
7		James David Edgar MP for Ontario West (1841–1899)	August 19, 1896	July 31, 1899	2 years, 346 days		Liberal	8th
8		Thomas Bain MP for Wentworth South (1834–1915)	August 1, 1899	February 5, 1901	1 year, 188 days		Liberal
9		Louis-Philippe Brodeur MP for Rouville (1862–1924)	February 6, 1901	January 18, 1904	2 years, 346 days		Liberal	9th
10		Napoléon Belcourt MP for Ottawa (City of) (1860–1932)	March 10, 1904	January 10, 1905	306 days		Liberal
11		Robert Franklin Sutherland MP for Essex North (1859–1922)	January 11, 1905	January 19, 1909	4 years, 8 days		Liberal	10th
12		Charles Marcil MP for Bonaventure (1860–1937)	January 20, 1909	November 14, 1911	2 years, 298 days		Liberal	11th
13		Thomas Simpson Sproule MP for Grey East (1843–1917)	November 15, 1911	December 2, 1915	4 years, 17 days		Conservative	12th
14		Albert Sévigny MP for Dorchester (1881–1961)	January 12, 1916	January 7, 1917	361 days		Conservative
15		Edgar Nelson Rhodes MP for Cumberland (1877–1942)	January 18, 1917	March 5, 1922	5 years, 46 days		Conservative
								13th
16		Rodolphe Lemieux MP for Gaspé (1866–1937)	March 8, 1922	June 2, 1930	8 years, 86 days		Liberal	14th
								15th
								16th
17		George Black MP for Yukon (1873–1965)	September 8, 1930	January 16, 1935	4 years, 130 days		Conservative	17th
18		James Langstaff Bowman MP for Dauphin (1879–1951)	January 17, 1935	February 5, 1936	1 year, 19 days		Conservative
19		Pierre-François Casgrain MP for Charlevoix—Saguenay (1886–1950)	February 6, 1936	May 10, 1940	4 years, 94 days		Liberal	18th
20		James Allison Glen MP for Marquette (1877–1950)	May 16, 1940	September 5, 1945	5 years, 112 days		Liberal	19th
21		Gaspard Fauteux MP for St. Mary (1898–1963)	September 6, 1945	September 14, 1949	4 years, 69 days		Liberal	20th
22		William Ross Macdonald MP for Brantford (1891–1976)	September 15, 1949	June 11, 1953	3 years, 269 days		Liberal	21st
23		Louis-René Beaudoin MP for Vaudreuil—Soulanges (1912–1970)	November 12, 1953	October 13, 1957	3 years, 335 days		Liberal	22th
24		Roland Michener MP for St. Paul's (1900–1991)	October 14, 1957	September 26, 1962	4 years, 347 days		Progressive Conservative	23rd
								24th
25		Marcel Lambert MP for Edmonton West (1919–2000)	September 27, 1962	May 15, 1963	230 days		Progressive Conservative	25th
26		Alan Macnaughton MP for Mount Royal (1903–1999)	May 16, 1963	January 17, 1966	2 years, 246 days		Liberal	26th
27		Lucien Lamoureux MP for Stormont—Dundas (1920–1998)	January 18, 1966	September 29, 1974	8 years, 253 days		Liberal	27th
							Independent	28th
								29th
28		James Jerome MP for Sudbury (1933–2005)	September 30, 1974	December 14, 1979	5 years, 75 days		Liberal	30th
								31st
29		Jeanne Sauvé MP for Laval-des-Rapides (1922–1993)	April 14, 1980	January 15, 1984	3 years, 276 days		Liberal	32nd
30		Lloyd Francis MP for Ottawa West (1920–2007)	January 16, 1984	November 4, 1984	293 days		Liberal
31		John Bosley MP for Don Valley West (1947–2022)	November 5, 1984	September 29, 1986	1 year, 328 days		Progressive Conservative	33rd
32		John Allen Fraser MP for Vancouver South (1931–2024)	September 30, 1986	January 16, 1994	7 years, 108 days		Progressive Conservative
								34th
33		Gilbert Parent MP for Welland—St. Catharines—Thorold (until 1997) MP for Niagara Centre (from 1997) (1935–2009)	January 17, 1994	January 28, 2001	7 years, 11 days		Liberal	35th
								36th
34		Peter Milliken MP for Kingston and the Islands (born 1946)	January 29, 2001	June 2, 2011	10 years, 124 days		Liberal	37th
								38th
								39th
								40th
35		Andrew Scheer MP for Regina—Qu'Appelle (born 1979)	June 2, 2011	December 2, 2015	4 years, 183 days		Conservative	41st
36		Geoff Regan MP for Halifax West (born 1959)	December 3, 2015	December 5, 2019	4 years, 2 days		Liberal	42nd
37		Anthony Rota MP for Nipissing—Timiskaming (born 1961)	December 5, 2019	September 27, 2023	3 years, 296 days		Liberal	43rd
								44th
–		Louis Plamondon MP for Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel (born 1943) (Interim)	September 27, 2023	October 3, 2023	6 days		Bloc Québécois
38		Greg Fergus MP for Hull—Aylmer (born 1969)	October 3, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 296 days		Liberal