We have a new Speaker of the House…

Posted on: Thursday, December 5, 2019
Posted at: 2:42 PM

Congratulations/Félicitations Anthony Rota!

We have a new Speaker of the House…

A little bit about the Speaker of the House, just in case you skipped, failed, or otherwise have no recollection of Civics class…

In addition to some administrative, ceremonial, and diplomatic duties, the main role of the Speaker of the House is to preside over and direct the day-to-day business of the House of Commons. This includes, according to the official House of Commons description of the job, ensuring the orderly flow of business by impartially interpreting parliamentary rules and traditions, both written and unwritten, maintaining order, and defending the rights and privileges of Members of Parliament.

This time around, there were a total of 5 MPs in the running for the job: Liberals Anthony Rota [Nipissing-Timiskaming] and Geoff Regan [Halifax West], as well as Conservatives Joël Godin [Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier] and Bruce Stanton [Simcoe North], and New Democrat Carol Hughes [Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing].

NOTE: Except for ministers and party leaders, ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT are considered candidates for the position of Speaker of the House, unless they inform the Clerk of the House that they don’t want to stand for the office the day before the election. Each candidate is given 5 minutes to address their colleagues on why they should be elected Speaker of the House, followed by a 30-minute break and voting [Ranked Ballot].

FWIW Geoff Regan was extremely disliked by his Conservative colleagues and CPC MPs were quite vocal as he spoke of the importance of maintaining decorum during his speech to members.

ALSO: If Geoff Regan had not sought re-election, the Canadian media would’ve tried to spin that as a comment on Justin Trudeau and this minority government.

So… it’s no surprise, that almost immediately, the Canadian media referenced the fact that Geoff Regan is the first Speaker of the House to not be re-elected since whatever year the position stopped being a position of appointment, etc.

Gotta generate those clicks/views, etc., after all, eh.

2019-12-05  »  somecanuckchick