Gary Levy is editor of the Canadian Parliamentary Review

This article examines three issues related to the Office of Speaker in Canada’s elected legislatures -- how Speakers are chosen, how long they remain in office and the circumstance by which they leave office. It covers all Speakers who have been in office since the Review was established in 1978.

Canada has thirteen elected legislative bodies (the House of Commons, ten provincial and two territorial legislatures) ranging in size from the 301 member House of Commons to the seventeen member Yukon Legislative Assembly. Yet, regardless of an assembly`s size or composition, every Speaker bears ultimate responsibility for balancing two fundamental principles of parliamentary democracy. The majority has the right to conduct its business in an orderly manner and the minority has the right to be heard. This responsibility makes the Speaker a crucial figure in our parliamentary form of government.

The duties of the Presiding Officer have changed little over the centuries. First, he or she is the spokesperson for the House in its relations with outside authorities, including the Crown. Second, the Speaker presides over sittings and enforces rules for the preservation of order and the conduct of business. Third, the Speaker has extensive responsibilities relating to the administration of the House. While these constants remain there have been change in other aspects, most notably the way Speakers are chosen.

The Election Process

For more than a hundred years after Confederation Speakers of the House of Commons were nominated by the Prime Minister then elected in a voice vote by the House. A similar procedure was followed in every other assembly.

To enhance the stature of the Presiding Officer and to make it clear that the Speaker is not a government appointee the House adopted, in 1985, a reform which provided for the election of its Speaker by a secret ballot. Every member (except  Ministers of the Crown) are listed on the ballot unless they have informed the Clerk in writing that they do not want their name to stand. One or more ballots are then held with the lowest person(s) being eliminated until someone emerges with a majority. A variation on this secret ballot procedure has since been adopted by Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories.

As shown in the table on the following page there have now been nearly 20 Speakers elected under rules providing for a secret ballot in various legislatures. When the procedure was introduced, some concerns were expressed in Ottawa that it could end the tradition of rotating the position between English and French Canadians. So far that has not been the case.

There was also speculation that the new process would open the way to Opposition Members being elected if they happened to be the best candidate. Experience so far, in both Ottawa and other legislatures, shows that with the exception of Ronald Russell (Nova Scotia) in 1998 only individuals from the majority party have won the Speakership under the secret ballot system. By contrast under Prime Ministerial nomination James Jerome, a Liberal, was asked to stay on as Speaker by the Conservative Government of Joe Clark following the 1979 election. In Ontario John Stokes of the NDP was chosen as Speaker by the Conservative Government of William Davis in 1977 and another Ontario Conservative Government chose Liberal Hugh Edighoffer as Speaker. In all these cases the Government was in a minority position.

Another issue relates to the chances of ethnic minorities or women under a secret ballot system. There does not seem to be much change in this respect. The three women chosen under the secret ballot system constitute about the same proportion as the eight chosen by Prime Ministerial nomination since 1978.

Perhaps the major difference under the secret ballot system is the cumbersome process for selecting a successor when a Speaker resigns unexpectedly when the House is in session. This happened in Ontario in 1996. The rules provided that there must always be a Speaker but there was no provision for a Deputy Speaker to automatically assume the Chair except during the absence of the Speaker. Before a new Speaker could be elected members naturally wanted a few days to consider the career consequences of seeking this job. It was necessary, therefore, to resort to an interim device. By agreement a new Speaker, Ed Doyle, was elected by acclamation on the understanding he would resign in a week to allow for another secret ballot election.

Of course interim Speakers are sometimes necessary under the Prime Ministerial method of naming Speakers. A case in point is Speaker Robert Bruce of Yukon. Elected to the Yukon Legislature by the narrowest of margins, his election was subsequently contested and the seat declared vacant thereby creating a vacancy in the Speakership. Doug Livingstone became Speaker but Mr. Bruce ran in a by-election and upon his re-election as member he was re-elected Speaker.

The problem of succession could probably be addressed fairly easily by providing in the Standing Orders that upon the departure of a Speaker during a session the Deputy Speaker is deemed to be Speaker for a certain period, perhaps two weeks, after which the a secret ballot election is held in the usual way.

Another interim arrangement occurred in New Brunswick. Shirley Dysart became Speaker under the old system but left when the government announced a shuffle and her replacement by Gérald Clavette. The Government later decided to amend the rules to implement a secret ballot system for the new Speaker. As a result Mr. Clavette was only in office long enough for the new rules to be adopted after which an election was held and Mrs. Dysart returned to the Chair.

 

Speakers of Canada’s Thirteen Elected Legislatures 1978-1998
(Speakers in office since June 1978. To calculate time in office for present Speakers June 6, 1998 is used)

Tenure

Results are inconclusive on the question of whether the secret ballot process results in longer tenure. In Ottawa both Speaker John Fraser and Gilbert Parent have been re-elected under this system. In the provinces Speakers Warner (Ontario) Rolfes (Saskatchewan) Schumacher (Alberta) and Barnes (British Columbia) served one term. Several others Speakers elected by secret ballot have yet to submit their names to their colleagues for re-election.

Looking at Speakers chosen by Prime Ministerial nomination since 1978 one notices several individuals who enjoyed more than one term including Don Taylor of Yukon and Gerard Amerongen of Alberta who were elected had four times and Arthur Donahoe of Nova Scotia elected three times.

Opinions will vary as to the ideal tenure for a Presiding Officer but if one takes the norm to be one Speaker per parliament, it will be seen that only the Prairie provinces and Prince Edward Island have maintained that average.  In Alberta there have been six elections since 1978 but only four Speakers which means each Speaker will have served for an average of 1.5 parliaments or about 6 years.  At the other extreme is New Brunswick where there have been five elections and 10 Speakers since 1978.

It is, of course, difficult to generalise about tenure in the Speakership since one has to take into account factors such as the turnover rate for members generally, age at taking office, and reasons for leaving. Such factors have not been considered in this article but the trend in many jurisdictions seems to be toward a shorter term for the Speaker. As of June 1998 the longest serving Speaker was Gilbert Parent who has been in office for four and a half years whereas more than half of the Speakers had less than two year’s experience. Very few jurisdictions have not changed the Speakership in mid term at least once during the last twenty years.

Prospects for Retiring Speakers

At the federal level usual practice is for a retiring Speaker to be offered an appointment as judge, ambassador or even Governor General as in the case for Mrs. Sauvé. Only one Speaker since 1978 returned to his role as private member. In the provinces some former Speakers were awarded with appointments including Marion Reid who became Lieutenant Governor of PEI. However it is not unusual for a Speaker to go back to the backbenches and more than a few  have moved into the Cabinet, something one rarely sees in the House of Commons.

No Speaker has ever gone to become Premier although Len Simms of Newfoundland became Leader of the Opposition. Another Newfoundlander, Gerald Ottenheimer was subsequently appointed to the Senate. John Reynolds went on to become a cabinet member in British Columbia and later a federal MP after leaving the Speakership.

One possible reason many provincial Speakers go on to the cabinet is that in several legislatures there are relatively few private members left on the government side after the original cabinet has been chosen. Since most Premiers do not like to go outside of the legislature to choose Ministers (although they could) the Speakership becomes a prime source of new cabinet material in the event a shuffle is required. As legislatures reduce the number of seats this trend will likely continue.

The final point to emerge from this short study is that while the institution of the Speakership is in theory essentially the same from one Canadian jurisdiction to another there are some subtle and not so subtle differences in the practices examined in this paper.

Articles Related to the Office of Speaker from Previous Issues of the Canadian Parliamentary Review John Bosley. A Speaker Looks at Parliamentary Reform, vol. 8 (1): 7-9, 1985. Margaret Boyes. Nancy Hodges: Speaker and Trailblazer, vol. 20 (2): 14-15, 1997. David Carter. Seven Years in the Speaker’s Chair, vol. 17 (1):16-17, 1994. Maurice Champagne. Censure Motions Against Speakers of Legislative Assemblies, vol. 9 (4):22-23, 1986. Marcel Danis. The Speakership and Independence: A Tradition in the Making, vol. 10 (2): 17-19, 1987. Robert Fleming and Thomas Mitchinson. The Speakership in Canada, vol. 6 (1):20-24, 1983. Lloyd Francis. Some Thoughts on the Office of Deputy Speaker, vol. 4 (1):3-4, 1981. John A Fraser. What it Means to be Canadian, vol. 14 (4): 2-4, 1991. Glenn Hagel. Outreach Programs for Legislators in Saskatchewan, vol. 20 (2): 2-3, 1997. David Hamilton. Freedom of Speech and the Office of Speaker, vol. 21 (1): 7-10, 1998. James Jerome. Televising the House of Commons: A Retrospective, vol. 4 (4):7-9, 1981. Gary Levy. The First Election of a Speaker by Secret Ballot, vol. 9 (4): 10-14, 1986. Pierre Lorrain. The Parliamentary Tradition in Canada, vol. 10 (2):4-5, 1987. Dale Lovick. Re-examining the Mythology of the Speakership, vol. 19 (4):2-6, 1996-97. Jean-Pierre Saintonge. Thoughts of a New Speaker, vol. 12 (4):22, 1989.