Anthony Rota

The Honourable Anthony Rota MP
Rota in 2023
37th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office December 5, 2019
Monarchs	Elizabeth II Charles III
Governors General	Julie Payette Mary Simon
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Geoff Regan
Member of Parliament for Nipissing—Timiskaming
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Jay Aspin
In office June 28, 2004 – May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Bob Wood
Succeeded by	Jay Aspin
Chairman of the COVID-19 Committee
In office April 20, 2020 – June 18, 2020
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office de-established
Personal details
Born	Anthony Michael Gerard Rota (1961-05-15) May 15, 1961 North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Chantal Piché-Rota
Children	Samantha
Residence(s)	North Bay, Ontario
Profession	Administrator business advisor

Anthony Michael Gerard Rota MP (born May 15, 1961) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 37th and current speaker of the House of Commons of Canada since 2019. A member of the Liberal Party, he currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. He previously represented Nipissing—Timiskaming as MP from 2004 to 2011. In 2019, he was elected by the House of Commons to be the speaker in the 43rd Parliament and in 2021 was re-elected in the 44th Parliament.

On September 26, 2023, he announced his intention to resign as speaker at the end of the following day on September 27 due to the fallout from his invitation and recognition in the House of Commons of Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian–Canadian who had served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Waffen-SS in the Second World War.

Early life and career

Born in North Bay, Ontario, Rota holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Wilfrid Laurier University, a diploma in finance from Algonquin College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Ottawa.

Prior to his election, Rota worked for the Industrial Research Assistance Program as regional manager for Ontario. He has also served with the Canadian Technology Network in Ottawa and has worked in the private sector. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Political career

Rota began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a city councillor for North Bay City Council and chairing the city's planning and economic development committee. He won the federal Liberal Party of Canada nomination for Nipissing—Timiskaming in early 2004, defeating rival candidates Susan Church, Hugh McLachlan and Joe Sinicrope with 52% on the second ballot. In the general election held in June of that year, he narrowly defeated Conservative candidate Al McDonald.

Rota was reelected in the 2006 election, defeating the Conservative Party's Peter Chirico, the NDP's Dave Fluri, and the Green Party's Meg Purdy. In the 2008 election, he was again reelected. He served as the Liberal Party caucus chair, and as critic for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario.

Rota ran again in the 2011 election and lost by a reported 14 votes to Jay Aspin of the Conservative Party. Due to the narrow margin, an automatic judicial recount was required, confirming the margin at 18 votes. After his 2011 loss, he began teaching at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario.

In the 2015 election, Rota was again the Liberal candidate, defeating Aspin to again become an MP in the 42nd Canadian Parliament. On December 9, 2015, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole. He was reelected in the 2019 election.

As Speaker of The House of Commons

Following the 2019 Federal Election, during the 43rd Canadian Parliament he was elected as 37th speaker of the House of Commons on December 5, 2019, by winning a ranked ballot between himself, Joël Godin, Carol Hughes, Geoff Regan (the speaker during the previous Parliament) and Bruce Stanton. Following Rota's win, the Conservatives said that he had them to thank for his new position. They had made the decision to unseat Regan as a show of strength during a caucus meeting. They did so by ranking Regan further down on the ranked ballot.

On June 17, 2020, Rota ordered that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh be removed from the House of Commons after referring to Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien as a racist.

On November 22, 2021, Rota was reelected as the speaker of the House of Commons.

Resignation

On September 22, 2023, following an address to the Canadian parliament by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rota introduced and recognized Yaroslav Hunka in the parliamentary galleries. He identified Hunka as a "war hero" who fought for the First Ukrainian Division. He said, "We have here in the chamber today a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98. His name is Yaroslav Hunka. I am very proud to say that he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. He is a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service. Thank you." Hunka was applauded by members of all parties. Subsequent media reports identified Hunka as having been a member of Nazi Germany’s 14th SS Division in World War II. Rota issued an apology two days after his initial statement, saying, "In my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery. I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so." Rota apologized to "Jewish communities in Canada and around the world" and accepted responsibility for his action, saying that neither the Ukrainian delegation nor other MPs were aware that he would recognize Hunka. The next day, he faced increasing demands from political parties and organizations to resign.

On September 26, he announced his resignation as House Speaker, effective on September 27. Rota was the seventh House Speaker to resign in Canadian history, with John Bosley most recently in 1986.

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	18,405	38.8	-1.8
	Conservative	Steven Trahan	15,104	31.8	+4.8
	New Democratic	Scott Robertson	10,493	22.1	+1.6
	People's	Gregory J. Galante	3,494	7.4	+2.2
Total valid votes			47,496
Total rejected ballots			337
Turnout			47,833	63.20
Eligible voters			75,689
Source: Elections Canada

2019 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	19,352	40.55	–11.33	$105,794.62
	Conservative	Jordy Carr	12,984	27.20	–2.10	$86,210.82
	New Democratic	Rob Boulet	9,784	20.50	+4.26	$8,883.76
	Green	Alex Gomm	3,111	6.52	+3.95	none listed
	People's	Mark King	2,496	5.23	n/a	$24,007.08
Total valid votes/expense limit			47,727	99.15
Total rejected ballots			407	0.85	+0.39
Turnout			48,134	64.13	–4.17
Eligible voters			75,052
	Liberal hold		Swing		–4.61
Source: Elections Canada

2015 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	25,357	51.9	+15.41	–
	Conservative	Jay Aspin	14,325	29.3	−7.11	–
	New Democratic	Kathleen Jodouin	7,936	16.2	−4.93	–
	Green	Nicole Peltier	1,257	2.6	−3.37	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,875	100.0		$217,533.50
Total rejected ballots			224	0.45	−0.05
Turnout			49,099	69.32	+8.82
Eligible voters			70,820
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+11.26
Source: Elections Canada

2011 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Jay Aspin	15,495	36.7	+4.4	–
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	15,477	36.6	−8.0	–
	New Democratic	Rona Eckert	8,781	20.8	+5.0	–
	Green	Scott Daley	2,518	6.0	−0.8	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			42,271	100.0	–
Total rejected ballots			225	0.5	+0.1
Turnout			42,496	60.5	+6.8
Eligible voters			70,244	–	–
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+6.2
This vote was subject to mandatory recount because of the margin of win being less than 1/1000 of the total votes.

2008 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	18,510	44.6	–0.1	$77,997
	Conservative	Joe Sinicrope	13,432	32.3	–2.2	$81,801
	New Democratic	Dianna Allen	6,582	15.8	–1.5	$8,409
	Green	Craig Bridges	2,808	6.8	+3.3	$10,803
	Canadian Action	Andrew Moulden	204	0.5	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,536	100.0	$87,383
Total rejected ballots			167	0.4	0.0
Turnout			41,703	~58.2	−9.4
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.1

2006 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	21,393	44.7	+2.4
	Conservative	Peter Chirico	16,511	34.5	–2.6
	New Democratic	Dave Fluri	8,268	17.3	+0.3
	Green	Meg Purdy	1,698	3.5	+0.4
Total valid votes			47,870	100.0
Total rejected ballots			211	0.4	−0.1
Turnout			48,081	67.6	+5.2
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.5

2004 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Anthony Rota	18,254	42.3
	Conservative	Al McDonald	16,001	37.1
	New Democratic	Dave Fluri	7,354	17.0
	Green	Les Wilcox	1,329	3.1
	Canadian Action	Ross MacLean	204	0.5
Total valid votes			43,142	100.0
Total rejected ballots			222	0.5
Turnout			43,364	62.4

Arms

Coat of arms of Anthony Rota

Notes Granted 15 November 2021. Crest A phoenix displayed wings inverted Or embellished Gules supporting the mace of the House of Commons of Canada palewise Or. Escutcheon Gules a wheel Or between in each corner a trillium flower Argent. Supporters Dexter an Italian wolf sinister an eastern wolf both standing on a rocky mount Proper set with a yin-yang symbol Argent and Sable and strewn with maple leaves Gules lilies and trillium flowers Proper. Motto Integritas Fidentiaque (Integrity and Resolve)

External links

• View Anthony Rota
• Anthony Rota – Parliament of Canada biography