As you may be aware, the very first order of business in any new Parliament is the election of a Speaker, and today we have confirmation that the incumbent, Geoff Regan, is planning to run again for the role, as are the deputy and assistant deputy Speakers from the last parliament, Bruce Stanton, Carole Hughes and Anthony Rota, and one new face, Conservative MP Joël Godin. What is new in this Parliament is the plan to run the election by way of preferential ballot rather than successive rounds of voting, which is no doubt intended to speed up the process and reduce the use of hospitality suites between voting rounds as has happened in previous Parliaments. (ETA: Apparently I am mistaken and this is the second time they will have used a preferential ballot. My apologies). The speedier process will also allow them to have the Speech from the Throne on the same day, which is unusual in and of itself.
One of Regan’s main advantages in this race is experience, which is going to be a very important consideration in a hung parliament situation. And while many of us would love an assertive Speaker like the UK’s John Bercow (perhaps without the alleged bullying of House of Commons staff), who did a lot to protect the rights of MPs against the party leaders and the Cabinet, we have to remember that Canadian Speakers are hampered by the Standing Orders that limit their powers. Some of those rules may be changing – the Liberals pledged as part of their platform that they would like to see the Speaker do away with the speaking lists provided by the party whips and House leaders, which frees up the Speaker to pick MPs to speak and perhaps enforce some more discipline that way – but it’s only a half-measure so long as we still allow scripts and prepared speeches in the Commons. Nevertheless, if they go ahead with even the half-measure, that could be a bigger challenge for any Speaker to take on, so having one with some experience under his (or her) belt would be a beneficial thing.
Meanwhile, Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column offers the guidebook on how the Speaker election will be run, as well as just what the job entails should any other MPs be considering the job.
Good reads:
- It has been confirmed that the premiers will meet in Toronto on December 2nd.
- The new RCMP union has elected their first president, who is talking about how pay increases are a priority (given that they rank below many municipalities for pay).
- Senator Diane Bellemare has resigned as Senator Peter Harder’s deputy, meaning big changes coming to the “government representative office.”
- Senator Judith Seidman has been named the party’s whip in the Senate.
- Yves-François Blanchet says that he has no plans to give any succour to Western “separatists” because they want to build a petro-state.
- In advance of his meeting with Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh says he’s open to voting against the Throne Speech if his demands aren’t met.
- Determined to be Jason Kenney’s Mini-Me, Scott Moe is warning of vague, hand-wavey proposals to further Saskatchewan’s “independence” (but not separatism).
- Jason Kenney threw another tantrum yesterday, this time directed at Yves-François Blanchet.
- Colby Cosh casts a critical eye over Kenney’s “Fair Deal” panel and the purpose behind it (though Kevin Milligan has a quibble).
Odds and ends:
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I like Blanchet. Not a fan of separatist or factionalist politics of any sort, but he and Trudeau seem to be the only adults in the room *not* throwing any tantrums. Trudeau would be wise to look to the Bloc first for support, because now Singh is having a crybaby whine of his own. Good thing Trudeau was once a teacher, as it gave him experience in how to deal with juvenile delinquents.
Meanwhile, the aptly-named Moe continues to be Kenney’s stooge.
Canada’s provincial”Premiers” need to sit in a class where they are educated in what provincial powers and responsibilities are. These people must follow the dictates of their Charters and not blame the Federal government for every perceived slight or imagined hurt. The people in these provinces also have a responsibility to ensure that their governments are doing their utmost to fulfill their duties. In this current time period, it is not Justin Trudeau’s fault that these jurisdiction are having some tough times. He cannot control the weather. He doesn’t control the price of oil. He can’t ram pipelines through Native lands or Cities and towns or even provinces that object. Alberta’s premier should be consulting with all to put forward the benefits of oil revenues but instead lays all the blame upon the Federal government.