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Historical information
This a previous edition. For the latest publication, consult
House of Commons Procedure and Practice
, Third Edition, 2017
.
Table of Contents
Home Page
Introductory Pages
Parliamentary Institutions
Parliaments and Ministries
Privileges and Immunities
The House of Commons and Its Members
Parliamentary Procedure
The Physical and Administrative Setting
The Speaker and Other Presiding Officers of the House
Introduction
The Speaker of the House
Other Presiding Officers
Notes 1-50
Notes 51-100
Notes 101-150
Notes 151-200
Notes 201-250
Notes 251-300
Notes 301-349
The Parliamentary Cycle
Sittings of the House
The Daily Program
Questions
The Process of Debate
Rules of Order and Decorum
The Curtailment of Debate
Special Debates
The Legislative Process
Delegated Legislation
Financial Procedures
Committees of the Whole House
Committees
Private Members’ Business
Public Petitions
Private Bills Practice
The Parliamentary Record
Appendices
House of Commons Procedure and Practice
Edited by Robert Marleau and Camille Montpetit
2000 Edition
—
More information …
7. The Speaker and Other Presiding Officers of the House
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Open/print full chapter
[1]
Earlier presiding officers were called “parlour”, “prolocutor” and “procurator” (
Wilding and Laundy
, p. 707).
[2]
May
, 22
nd
ed., p. 9.
[3]
The task of communicating the resolutions of the Commons to the King was not an enviable one. At least nine Speakers are known to have died violently — four during the stormy period of the Wars of the Roses (mid-fifteenth century) (Philip Laundy,
The Office of Speaker in the Parliaments of the Commonwealth
, London: Quiller Press, 1984, pp. 19-20).
[4]
This is exemplified by the remark of Speaker Finch, in 1629, to an angry House which did not wish to comply with a royal command to adjourn: “I am not less the King’s servant for being yours!” (
Laundy
, p. 31).
[5]
Laundy
, p. 34.
[6]
Laundy
, pp. 68-71.
[7]
In Canadian practice, a retiring Speaker is not guaranteed a position or posting. In recent years, Speakers Lamoureux (1966-74) and Francis (1984) were appointed Ambassadors; Speaker Michener (1957-62) was appointed High Commissioner to India and, in 1967, was named Governor General; Speaker Macnaughton (1963-66) was appointed to the Senate; Speaker Sauvé (1980-84) was named Governor General; Speaker Jerome (1974-80) was appointed a Judge to the Federal Court; Speaker Bosley (1984-86) continued as a private Member; Speaker Fraser (1986-94) was appointed Canada’s Ambassador for the Environment.
[8]
See next section, “Governing Provisions”.
[9]
For a description of this process, see
Redlich
, Vol. I, pp. 52-72.
[10]
See
Appendix 2, “Speakers of the House of Commons Since 1867”
.
[11]
An example is the recurring proposal for the establishment of a special constituency for the Speaker, designated as Parliament Hill, with the electorate being the Members of the House of Commons. A private Members’ bill with this objective was introduced on October 20, 1970 (
Journals
, p. 40) and debated on October 29, 1971 (
Debates
, pp. 9186-92). See also the Fourth Report of the Special Committee on Standing Orders and Procedure, presented on December 3, 1982 (
Journals
, p. 5420) and paragraph 11 of the First Report of the Special Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons, presented on December 20, 1984 (
Journals
, p. 211).
[12]
Seven Speakers have served in two Parliaments: Cockburn (1867-74), Anglin (1874-79), Rhodes (1917-22), Michener (1957-62), Jerome (1974-80), Fraser (1986-94) and Parent, who was first elected in 1994 (see
Appendix 2, “Speakers of the House of Commons Since 1867”
).
[13]
Speaker Jerome (1974-80), elected to a second term to serve as Speaker during the minority government of Prime Minister Clark in 1979, was the first and only Speaker to be elected from an opposition party. Prior to 1986, Speakers were elected on a motion proposed by the Prime Minister and the practice of alternating between anglophone and francophone Speakers was well entrenched (see
Appendix 2, “Speakers of the House of Commons Since 1867”
). Following rule changes adopted in 1985 (see
Journals
, June 27, 1985, pp. 910-9), the election has been conducted as a secret ballot. See the section of this chapter entitled “Election of the Speaker as Presiding Officer”.
[14]
Precedence (the right to precede others) in ceremonies and matters of protocol is governed by the Table of Precedence for Canada. See “Official Precedence” in successive editions of the
Canadian Parliamentary Guide
.
[15]
Order in Council approved on December 19, 1968.
[16]
See the
Salaries Act
for salaries of Cabinet Ministers and the
Parliament of Canada Act
for the Speaker’s salary.
[17]
Journals
, June 11, 1965, p. 224.
[18]
See Standing Orders 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
[19]
Constitution Act, 1867
, R.S.C. 1985, Appendix II, No. 5, ss. 44-47, 49.
[20]
See
Parliament of Canada Act
, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, ss. 13(1), 23(2), 25(1), 28, 42-4, 50-3, 60, 70(2) and (3), 74.
[21]
Parliament of Canada Act
, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1, ss. 42, 43.
[22]
Parliament of Canada Act
, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-1 as amended by S.C. 1991, c. 20, s. 2 (s. 53).
[23]
Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act
, R.S.C. 1985, c. E-3, s. 6.
[24]
Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act
, R.S.C. 1985, 2
nd
Supp., c. 6, ss. 5, 6.
[25]
Official Languages Act
, R.S.C. 1985, 4
th
Supp., c. 31, s. 49(4).
[26]
For further details, see the section of this chapter entitled “Tabling of Documents”.
[27]
For further information and examples, see the section on statutory debates in
Chapter 15, “Special Debates”
.
[28]
See, for example, Standing Orders 9 to 14 and 19. For examples of administrative responsibilities set out in the Standing Orders, see Standing Orders 22, 107, 121 and 148 to 159.
[29]
Redlich
, Vol. II, pp. 143-4.
[30]
Redlich
, Vol. II, pp. 149-50. See also Speaker Fraser’s ruling,
Debates
, April 14, 1987, pp. 5119-24.
[31]
See, for example,
Debates
, January 26, 1967, pp. 12271-2; October 11, 1979, p. 69; May 3, 1990, pp. 10941-2; October 25, 1995, pp. 15812-3.
[32]
Parliamentary privilege is the “sum of the peculiar rights enjoyed by each House collectively as a constituent part of the High Court of Parliament, and by Members of each House individually, without which they could not discharge their functions, and which exceed those possessed by other bodies or individuals” (
May
, 22
nd
ed., p. 65). See also
Chapter 3, “Privileges and Immunities”
.
[33]
See, for example,
Debates of the Senate
, September 23, 1997, p. 3.
[34]
Bourinot
, 4
th
ed., pp. 49-50. See later sections of this chapter for information on the election of the Speaker during the course of a Parliament.
[35]
See paragraph 3 of the First Report of the Special Committee on the Rights and Immunities of Members, presented on April 29, 1977 (
Journals
, pp. 720-9).
[36]
For further information, see
Chapter 13, “Rules of Order and Decorum”
.
[37]
Speaker Fraser has observed that there can be no freedom of speech without order in the House (
Debates
, March 24, 1993, pp. 17486-8).
[38]
Prima facie
means “at first sight” or “on the face of it”.
Maingot
offers the following definition: “A
prima facie
case of privilege in the parliamentary sense is one where the evidence on its face as outlined by the Member is sufficiently strong for the House to be asked to debate the matter and to send it to a committee to investigate whether the privileges of the House have been breached or a contempt has occurred and report to the House” (2
nd
ed., p. 221).
[39]
Maingot
, 2
nd
ed., p. 220.
[40]
Standing Order 48(1). The wording of the rule is unchanged since Confederation. For further information on the role of the Speaker in deciding on a question of privilege, see
Chapter 3, “Privileges and Immunities”
.
[41]
Standing Order 10.
[42]
See, for example,
Debates
, March 9, 1992, pp. 7840-1.
[43]
Standing Order 19. See, for example,
Debates
, October 16, 1986, pp. 402-6.
[44]
See, for example,
Debates
, October 27, 1986, pp. 767-8; October 29, 1986, p. 864.
[45]
See, for example,
Journals
, March 28, 1916, pp. 201-2; June 1, 1956, pp. 678-9;
Debates
, May 13, 1999, pp. 15108-9.
[46]
Standing Order 10. Matters of order and decorum are addressed in greater detail in
Chapter 13, “Rules of Order and Decorum”
.
[47]
Standing Order 11(2).
[48]
See, for example,
Debates
, September 25, 1989, p. 3818; September 26, 1996, p. 4715.
[49]
See, for example,
Debates
, August 11, 1988, p. 18232; April 22, 1997, pp. 10103, 10106.
[50]
See, for example,
Debates
, March 22, 1971, pp. 4467-9; October 26, 1998, p. 9396.