Speaker of the Senate of Canada

Speaker of the Senate of Canada
Président du Sénat du Canada
Incumbent George Furey since December 3, 2015
Senate of Canada
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	The governor general on the advice of the prime minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon
Formation	November 5, 1867
Salary	$230,500
Website	sencanada.ca/en/speakers/georgefurey/biography/

The speaker of the Senate of Canada (French: président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debates and voting in the chamber. The current speaker is George Furey who was appointed on December 3, 2015, on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Appointment and precedence

By convention, the speaker of the Senate is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister.

The speaker of the Senate takes precedence only after the monarch, the governor general, members of the Canadian Royal Family, former governors general and their spouses, the prime minister, former prime ministers, and the chief justice of Canada in the Canadian Order of Precedence.

History of the speaker

The role of the speaker in the Senate was originally based on that of the lord chancellor in the United Kingdom, who presided over the British House of Lords. In keeping with the role of the lord chancellor, the speaker of the Senate was expected to be partisan; the speaker of the Senate would, at all times, have the right to leave the chair, to participate in debates, and to hold an original vote—unlike the speaker of the House of Commons, who has a vote only in the event of a tie.

The speaker of the Senate was also similar to the lord chancellor in being considered equal to other senators. Decisions of the chair were not binding on the Senate unless the speaker's decision was also the pleasure of a majority of senators. Also similar to the practice of the House of Lords was that the speaker would not intervene unless another senator brought a matter to the attention of the speaker. Decisions from the chair remain subject to appeals from the Senate.

Canada has more recently departed from the traditions of the House of Lords, notably since 1991, when new rules for the Senate were adopted. The new Standing Orders have made it clear that the speaker of the Senate could intervene without being called to do so by the Senate. The new guidelines move the Senate further from the model of the self-governing practices of the House of Lords, and more toward the chair-governed customs of the House of Commons.

The position was preceded by the speaker of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada.

Role of the speaker

The Speaker of the Senate occupies the chair in front of the thrones.

The speaker of the Senate is historically responsible for deciding on points of order, only once risen by another senator. However, with the 1991 amendments to the Standing Orders and Guidelines that govern the Senate of Canada, the speakership has generally begun to assert its right to intervene, where appropriate, without being prompted to do so. Therefore, the speaker is, broadly speaking, responsible for the maintenance of order and decorum in the Senate.

As a high-ranking individual on the order of precedence, the speaker of the Senate often receives visiting heads of state and heads of government — this role is not merely ceremonial; the speaker is a real delegate and representative of Canada abroad. They are expected to represent Canada internationally, and sometimes visit other nations on behalf of the Government of Canada.

While the speaker is an officer of the Senate, the speaker as a senator also remains a representative of the province or territory from which they were appointed. Unlike the speaker of the House of Commons, the speaker of the Senate has the right to participate in debates. The speaker has the right and power to cast an original vote, and to simultaneously preside over the voting process (rather than the speaker merely delivering a tie-breaking vote).

Another significant difference between the two speakers is that the speaker of the House of Commons holds a management role within the administration of the House of Commons and chairs the Board of Internal Economy. The speaker of the Senate holds no similar role, as the Senate's Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration is chaired by another senator.

In the absence of the speaker in the chamber, their duties are carried by the speaker pro tempore, a senator appointed at the beginning of each session by the Senate. Should both chair officers be absent, any senator can be called upon to take the chair. Irrespective of who is in the chair, their decisions hold the same force as that of the speaker of the Senate.

Ceremony

The speaker of the Senate performs the Senate Speaker's Parade to mark the opening of a sitting in the Senate with the help of the Black Rod.

List of speakers of the Senate

Key:

  Liberal Party of Canada

  Historical Conservative parties (including Liberal-Conservative, Conservative (Historical), Nationalist Conservative, Progressive Conservative)

  Conservative Party of Canada

  Independent

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party			Appointed on the advise of
			Took office	Left office
1		Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Senator for Stadacona, Quebec (1816–1885)	5 November 1867	16 May 1869		Independent Conservative		John A. Macdonald Liberal-Conservative
2		John Ross Senator for Ontario (1818–1871)	17 May 1869	26 May 1869		Conservative
(1)		Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Senator for Stadacona, Quebec (1816–1885)	27 May 1869	2 June 1872		Independent Conservative
3		Amos Edwin Botsford Senator for New Brunswick (1804–1894)	3 June 1872	5 June 1872		Conservative
(1)		Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Senator for Stadacona, Quebec (1816–1885)	6 June 1872	30 June 1872		Independent Conservative
4		Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau Senator for Stadacona, Quebec (1820–1890)	21 February 1873	8 January 1874		Conservative
5		David Christie Senator for Erie, Ontario (1818–1880)	9 January 1874	16 October 1878		Liberal		Alexander Mackenzie Liberal
6		Robert Duncan Wilmot Senator for New Brunswick (1809–1891)	7 November 1878	10 February 1880		Conservative		John A. Macdonald Liberal-Conservative
7		David Lewis Macpherson Senator for Saugeen, Ontario (1818–1896)	11 February 1880	15 February 1880		Conservative
(3)		Amos Edwin Botsford Senator for New Brunswick (1804–1894)	16 February 1880	18 April 1880		Conservative
(7)		David Lewis Macpherson Senator for Saugeen, Ontario (1818–1896)	19 April 1880	16 October 1883		Conservative
8		William Miller Senator for Richmond, Nova Scotia (1835–1912)	17 October 1883	3 April 1887		Liberal- Conservative
9		Josiah Burr Plumb Senator for Ontario (1816–1888)	4 April 1887	12 March 1888		Conservative
10		George William Allan Senator for York, Ontario (1822–1901)	17 March 1888	26 April 1891		Conservative
11		Alexandre Lacoste Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec (1842–1923)	27 April 1891	13 September 1891		Conservative
12		John Jones Ross Senator for De la Durantaye, Quebec (1831–1901)	14 September 1891	12 July 1896		Conservative		John Abbott Liberal-Conservative
13		Charles Alphonse Pantaléon Pelletier Senator for Grandville, Quebec (1837–1911)	13 July 1896	28 January 1901		Liberal		Wilfrid Laurier Liberal
14		Lawrence Geoffrey Power Senator for Halifax, Nova Scotia (1841–1921)	29 January 1901	8 January 1905		Liberal
15		Raoul Dandurand Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec (1861–1942)	9 January 1905	13 January 1909		Liberal
16		James Kirkpatrick Kerr Senator for Toronto, Ontario (1841–1916)	14 January 1909	22 October 1911		Liberal
17		Auguste Charles Philippe Robert Landry Senator for Stadacona, Quebec (1846–1919)	23 October 1911	2 June 1916		Conservative		Robert Borden Conservative
18		Joseph Bolduc Senator for Lauzon, Quebec (1847–1924)	3 June 1916	6 February 1922		Nationalist Conservative
19		Hewitt Bostock Senator for Kamloops, British Columbia (1864–1930)	7 February 1922	12 May 1930		Liberal		William Lyon Mackenzie King Liberal
20		Arthur Charles Hardy Senator for Leeds, Ontario (1872–1962)	13 May 1930	2 September 1930		Liberal
21		Pierre-Édouard Blondin Senator for The Laurentides, Quebec (1874–1943)	3 September 1930	10 January 1936		Conservative		R. B. Bennett Conservative
22		Walter Edward Foster Senator for Saint John, New Brunswick (1873–1947)	11 January 1936	8 May 1940		Liberal		William Lyon Mackenzie King Liberal
23		Georges Parent Senator for Kennebec, Quebec (1879–1942)	9 May 1940	14 December 1942		Liberal
24		Thomas Vien Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec (1881–1972)	23 January 1943	23 August 1945		Liberal
25		James Horace King Senator for Kootenay East, British Columbia (1873–1955)	24 August 1945	2 August 1949		Liberal
26		Élie Beauregard Senator for Rougemont, Quebec (1884–1954)	3 August 1949	13 October 1953		Liberal		Louis St. Laurent Liberal
27		Wishart McLea Robertson Senator for Shelburne, Nova Scotia (1891–1967)	14 October 1953	3 October 1957		Liberal
28		Mark Robert Drouin Senator for La Salle, Quebec (1903–1963)	4 October 1957	23 September 1962		Progressive Conservative		John Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative
29		George Stanley White Senator for Hastings–Frontenac, Ontario (1897–1977)	24 September 1962	26 April 1963		Progressive Conservative
30		Maurice Bourget Senator for The Laurentides, Quebec (1907–1979)	27 April 1963	6 January 1966		Liberal		Lester B. Pearson Liberal
31		Sydney John Smith Senator for Kamloops, British Columbia (1892–1976)	7 January 1966	4 September 1968		Liberal
32		Jean-Paul Deschatelets Senator for Lauzon, Quebec (1912–1986)	5 September 1968	13 December 1972		Liberal		Pierre Trudeau Liberal
33		Muriel McQueen Fergusson Senator for Frederickton, New Brunswick (1899–1997)	14 December 1972	11 September 1974		Liberal
34		Renaude Lapointe Senator for Mille Isles, Quebec (1912–2002)	12 September 1974	4 October 1979		Liberal
35		Allister Grosart Senator for Pickering, Ontario (1906–1984)	5 October 1979	3 March 1980		Progressive Conservative		Joe Clark Progressive Conservative
36		Jean Marchand Senator for De la Vallière, Quebec (1918–1998)	4 March 1980	15 December 1983		Liberal		Pierre Trudeau Liberal
37		Maurice Riel Senator for Shawinegan, Quebec (1922–2007)	16 December 1983	1 November 1984		Liberal
38		Guy Charbonneau Senator for Kennebec, Quebec (1922–1998)	2 November 1984	6 December 1993		Progressive Conservative		Brian Mulroney Progressive Conservative
39		Roméo LeBlanc Senator for Beauséjour, New Brunswick (1927–2009)	7 December 1993	21 November 1994		Liberal		Jean Chrétien Liberal
40		Gildas Molgat Senator for Saint Rose, Manitoba (1927–2001)	22 November 1994	25 January 2001		Liberal
41		Dan Hays Senator for Calgary, Alberta (born 1939)	26 January 2001	7 February 2006		Liberal
42		Noël Kinsella Senator for Fredericton–York–Sunbury, New Brunswick (born 1939)	8 February 2006	26 November 2014		Conservative		Stephen Harper Conservative
43		Pierre Claude Nolin Senator for De Salaberry, Quebec (1950–2015)	27 November 2014	23 April 2015		Conservative
44		Leo Housakos Senator for Wellington, Quebec (born 1968)	24 April 2015	2 December 2015		Conservative
45		George Furey Senator for Newfoundland and Labrador (born 1948)	3 December 2015	Incumbent		Independent		Justin Trudeau Liberal

Hays, Kinsella and Housakos are the only current living former speakers of the Senate.

Several speakers have died during their time in office:

• Josiah Burr Plumb, 1888
• Hewitt Bostock, 1930
• Georges Parent, 1942
• Pierre Claude Nolin, 2015

External links

• Speaker of the Senate webpage