MPS select new House of Commons referee
OTTAWA — Ontario Liberal MP Anthony Rota is the new Speaker of the House of Commons.
He will replace former Speaker Geoff Regan, MP for Halifax West.
Rota represented the riding of Nipissing-timiskaming from 2004-11 and was reelected in 2015 and 2019.
Rota was elected Speaker by his colleagues as the first order of business for MPS as they returned to the House on Thursday for the first time since the October election.
Rota, who served as assistant deputy Speaker under Regan, said being elected Speaker is the greatest honour of his career. He promised members of the House of Commons he will do his best to be fair and non-partisan in his new role.
“Every time we get up, let's make sure our friends, parents and children are proud of us when we’re in this House,” Rota said.
There were five MPS in the running for the job: Liberals Rota and Regan, Conservatives Joël Godin and Bruce Stanton, and New Democrat Carol Hughes.
Prior to Regan, current Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer sat in the Speaker’s chair.
Regan’s defeat is being considered an upset, as incumbent Speakers who seek re-election are usually returned to the chair.
But Regan had strong competition: all but one of the other candidates had been deputy speaker or assistant deputy speaker.
“That tells me that the Speaker Regan’s close colleagues might have observed some weakness,” Cape Breton University political science professor Tom Urbaniak told Saltwire.
Over the four years he presided over the House, Regan, who served as MP for Halifax West continuously since 2000 and from 1993 to 1997, gained a reputation of being a no-nonsense Speaker who wasn't shy to put MPS who got out of line in their place in the interest of decorum. His leadership style, apparently, did not win the favour of Conservatives. Members on the other side of the aisle were audible in their displeasure as Regan, during his speech to members, spoke of the importance of maintaining decorum.
“I know the Conservatives were not always happy with Geoff Regan,” Urbaniak said. “He pledged to eliminate heckling, but when that became a difficult proposition he often ‘named’ (suspended for a day) the most serious offenders.
In a majority of instances, the sanctioned members were Conservatives.”
With the Conservatives having two of their own in the running, and the NDP one, it stands to reason that many members of Regan’s own caucus voted in favour of Rota. It isn't known how members voted, however. Changes were implemented to the election process in 2015, and voting for the Speaker is now conducted via a secret, ranked ballot system.
CHALLENGING ROLE
In addition to some administrative, ceremonial and diplomatic duties, the main role of the Speaker 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, "to maintain order, and to defend the rights and privileges of members, including the right to freedom of speech."
The role of Speaker tends to be more challenging in a minority situation like the one Trudeau’s Liberals find themselves in.
“The House will assert itself more and it will be bolder," Urbaniak said.
"There will be additional consequential amendments to process, more motions passed directing the government to produce this or that information, more reports from committees that go against the wishes of the government, and possibly more questions of privilege — on which the Speaker must rule — asserting that the government has not complied with the will of Parliament.”
The Speaker may also be asked to enforce procedural rules that give more scope for debate and opposition, or that make it easier to stall government measures.
Because the Speaker must remain impartial, he or she never participates in debate and only votes in the case of a tie, which Urbaniak said could happen in the current scenario.
“The protocol in such instances is that the Speaker votes in such a way that allows the question to be revisited at a later time,” he said. “In practice, that means that in the event of a tie on a confidence question, the Speaker would vote to sustain the government.”
It may sound like a lot of work, but the Speaker's job comes with some perks: a $85,500 bump to the $178,900 MP base salary (the same as cabinet ministers), an official heritage residence located at Kingsmere in the Gatineau Hills known as The Farm, a car and driver, and an apartment on Parliament Hill to crash in after late-night voting sessions.
Saltwire attempted to contact Regan for comment, but the request was not responded to by deadline.