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Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Président de l'Assemblée législative de l'Ontario
Incumbent
Ted Arnott
since July 11, 2018
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Member ofProvincial Parliament
SeatQueen's Park, Toronto
FormationDecember 27, 1867 (1867-12-27)
First holderJohn Stevenson

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (French: Président de l'Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Notable elections

1920

Nelson Parliament was a Liberal representing Prince Edward riding, who was named Speaker when the United Farmers of Ontario and Labour Party formed a coalition government in the 15th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. A considerable number of members in the governing party were either freshly elected or chosen to serve as government ministers (which made them ineligible to be elected).[1] As a result, the Premier, E.C. Drury, looked to the opposition benches for a Speaker, and chose Parliament, who had served as an MPP since 1914. Upon becoming Speaker, Parliament resigned from the Liberal caucus and sat without party affiliation, as a compromise for his election. While this is the normal practice in the British House of Commons, it is the only time it has happened in Ontario.

1977

Jack Stokes was the NDP MPP for Lake Nipigon, and was named Speaker by Progressive Conservative Premier Bill Davis. His election is an example of an instance where a member of an opposing party was elected to the position. Davis was elected to lead a minority government and having an opposition MPP as Speaker was a means of denying the opposition one vote (as the Speaker only votes in the occasion of a tie and then must vote by precedent).

1985

Liberal Party MPP Hugh Edighoffer (Perth) was named Speaker following the 1985 provincial election that returned a slim minority Progressive Conservative government under Frank Miller. The opposition Liberals and NDP together controlled a majority of seats and so Miller nominated Edighoffer as Speaker, with Liberal leader David Peterson seconding the nomination, and Edighoffer was acclaimed.[2] Days later, the Miller government was brought down by a Motion of Non-Confidence and, as a result of an accord between the Liberals and the NDP, Liberal leader David Peterson was asked to form a government without the legislature being dissolved and a new election. Edighoffer, a Liberal MPP, remained Speaker for the duration of the Peterson government as well.

1990

NDP MPP David William Warner (Scarborough-Ellesmere) was elected Speaker on the second ballot, in the first election held for the position by secret ballot, as the result of a reform introduced by the newly-elected Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae. Warner won over Liberals Jean Poirier (Prescott and Russell) and Gilles Morin (Carleton East) and PC MPP Norm Sterling (Carleton).[3][4][5]

1996

On the seventh ballot, PC MPP Chris Stockwell (Etobicoke West) was elected Speaker, defeating fellow PC MPP Margaret Marland (Mississauga South), who was the preferred choice of Premier Mike Harris.[6] Candidates eliminated in the previous six ballots were PC MPPs David Tilson (Dufferin-Peel) Jack Carroll (Chatham-Kent), Gary Leadston (Kitchener-Wilmot), and Derwyn Shea (High Park—Swansea), NDP MPP Floyd Laughren (Nickel Belt) and Liberal Gilles Morin (Carleton East).[7]

2011

There were nine candidates for the position of Speaker in the 40th Ontario legislature, held after the 2011 provincial election returned a minority Liberal government. The Liberal candidates were Donna Cansfield, who was supported by Premier Dalton McGuinty,[6] Kevin Flynn, Dave Levac and David Zimmer. A fifth candidate, Progressive Conservative MPP Frank Klees withdrew after his bid failed to receive sufficient support from either side of the aisle.

David Zimmer dropped off after the first ballot. On the second ballot, Dave Levac was elected Speaker. The actual vote totals were not released.[8]

2014

Liberal MPP Dave Levac was re-elected to a second term as Speaker at the first session of the 41st Parliament held on July 2, 2014, becoming the first Speaker since Hugh Edighoffer to serve more than one term. Levac defeated NDP MPP Paul Miller and Progressive Conservative Rick Nicholls on the third ballot. NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo was eliminated on the first ballot and Liberal MPP Shafiq Qaadri was eliminated on the second ballot. Actual vote totals were not released.[9]

2018

PC MPP Ted Arnott was elected as Speaker at the first session of the 42nd Parliament held on July 11, 2018 on the first ballot, defeating Randy Hillier, Jane McKenna and Rick Nicholls. Arnott was one of the three longest serving members of the legislature at the time of election.

2022

Arnott was re-elected Speaker on August 8, 2022, defeating a challenge by fellow PC MPP Nina Tangri, who had been endorsed by Premier Doug Ford.[6]

Election

Chamber of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Speaker's dais is in direct center of image in the front of the chamber.

As with other Speakers that are modeled on the Westminster system, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is elected using a secret ballot.[10] Since 1990, the position has been elected by MPPs in this manner. Previously, the Speaker had been appointed directly by the Premier of Ontario after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the third-largest party, and then ratified by the legislature. David Warner was the first Speaker to be elected by his or her peers. This change reflects a similar reform undertaken by the federal House of Commons in 1986.[1]

The Speaker is usually a member of the governing party. The only exceptions have been Jack Stokes, Nelson Parliament and Hugh Edighoffer.

The Speaker is required to perform his or her office impartially,[10] but does not resign from his or her party membership upon taking office.[11] This is identical to the system in place in the federal House of Commons, but stands in contrast to the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[12] The only Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to have resigned his party affiliation upon election was Nelson Parliament, who was elected in 1920.[13]

List of speakers of the Legislative Assembly

Key:

  Ontario Liberal Party
  Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (and predecessor names)
  Ontario New Democratic Party
Speaker Term Legislature(s) Term length Party
1 John Stevenson 27 December 1867 7 December 1871 1 3 years, 345 days Conservative
2 Richard William Scott 7 December 1871 21 December 1871 2 14 days Liberal
3 James George Currie 21 December 1871 29 March 1873 2 1 year, 98 days Liberal
4 Rupert Mearse Wells 7 January 1874 7 January 1880 2, 3 6 years, 0 days Liberal
5 Charles J. P. Clarke[a] 7 January 1880 10 February 1887 4, 5 7 years, 34 days Liberal
6 Jacob Baxter 10 February 1887 11 February 1891 6 4 years, 1 day Liberal
7 Thomas Ballantyne 11 February 1891 21 February 1895 7 4 years, 10 days Liberal
8 William Douglas Balfour 21 February 1895 14 July 1896 8 1 year, 144 days Liberal
9 Francis Eugene Alfred Evanturel 10 February 1897 10 March 1903 8, 9 6 years, 239 days Liberal
10 William Andrew Charlton 10 March 1903 22 March 1905 10 2 years, 12 days Liberal
11 Joseph Wesley St. John 22 March 1905 7 April 1907 11 2 years, 16 days Conservative
12 Thomas Crawford 8 April 1907 7 February 1912 11, 12 4 years, 306 days Conservative
13 William Henry Hoyle 7 February 1912 16 February 1915 13 3 years, 9 days Conservative
14 David Jamieson 16 February 1915 9 March 1920 14 5 years, 22 days Conservative
15 Nelson Parliament 9 March 1920 6 February 1924 15 3 years, 334 days Independent[b]
16 Joseph Elijah Thompson 6 February 1924 2 February 1927 16 2 years, 361 days Conservative
17 William David Black 2 February 1927 5 February 1930 17 3 years, 3 days Conservative
18 Thomas Ashmore Kidd 5 February 1930 20 February 1935 18 5 years, 15 days Conservative
19 Norman Otto Hipel 20 February 1935 2 September 1938 19, 20 3 years, 194 days Liberal
20 James Howard Clark 8 March 1939 22 February 1944 20 4 years, 351 days Liberal
21 William James Stewart 22 February 1944 21 March 1947 21, 22 3 years, 27 days Conservative
22 James de Congalton Hepburn 24 March 1947 10 February 1949 22 1 year, 323 days Conservative
23 Maurice Coleman Davies 10 February 1949 8 September 1955 23, 24 6 years, 210 days Conservative
24 Alfred Downer 8 September 1955 26 January 1960 25 4 years, 140 days Progressive Conservative
25 William Murdoch 26 January 1960 29 October 1963 26 3 years, 276 days Progressive Conservative
26 Donald Hugo Morrow 29 October 1963 14 February 1968 27 4 years, 108 days Progressive Conservative
27 Frederick McIntosh Cass 14 February 1968 13 December 1971 28 3 years, 302 days Progressive Conservative
28 Allan Edward Reuter 13 December 1971 22 October 1974 29 2 years, 313 days Progressive Conservative
29 Russell Daniel Rowe 22 October 1974 17 October 1977 29, 30, 31 2 years, 360 days Progressive Conservative
30 John Edward "Jack" Stokes 17 October 1977 21 April 1981 31 3 years, 186 days New Democratic Party
31 John M. Turner 21 April 1981 4 June 1985 32 4 years, 44 days Progressive Conservative
32 Hugh Alden Edighoffer 4 June 1985 19 November 1990 33, 34 5 years, 168 days Liberal
33 David William Warner 19 November 1990 26 September 1995 35 4 years, 311 days New Democratic Party
34 Al McLean 26 September 1995 26 September 1996 36 1 year, 0 days Progressive Conservative
35 Edward Doyle 26 September 1996 3 October 1996 36 7 days Progressive Conservative
36 Chris Stockwell 3 October 1996 20 October 1999 36 3 years, 17 days Progressive Conservative
37 Gary Carr 20 October 1999 19 November 2003 37 4 years, 30 days Progressive Conservative
38 Alvin Curling 19 November 2003 19 August 2005 38 1 year, 326 days Liberal
39 Michael A. Brown 11 October 2005 28 November 2007 38 2 years, 48 days Liberal
40 Stephen Peters 28 November 2007 21 November 2011 39 3 years, 358 days Liberal
41 Dave Levac 21 November 2011 8 May 2018 40, 41 6 years, 168 days Liberal
42 Ted Arnott 11 July 2018 Present 42, 43 6 years, 101 days Progressive Conservative
  1. ^ Charles Clarke was also Clerk of the Assembly from 1892-1907, being the only Member to serve as both Speaker and Clerk.
  2. ^ Nelson Parliament was a member of the Liberal Party, however the Liberals sat in the opposition in the 15th Parliament. As no one in the governing coalition had experience in the Legislature, Parliament was selected from the Opposition to become Speaker by the Premier; he subsequently resigned his party membership and sat as an independent.

List of current presiding officers

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is assisted by four other MPPs who are, along with the Speaker, collectively known as the presiding officers.[14][15] Standing Order 2 of the Legislative Assembly requires that up to three of the five presiding officers hail from the Official Opposition.[15] In the 43rd Parliament, however, the tradition of appointing three Official Opposition presiding officers was broken when three members from the governing Progressive Conservatives were appointed: Ted Arnott by secret ballot, and Donna Skelly and Patrice Barnes by the Government House Leader Paul Calandra, despite the fact that the Official Opposition NDP had put forward Jill Andrew and Jennifer French—in addition to eventual presiding officer Bhutila Karpoche—as appointees. Calandra dismissed Andrew's and French's appointments and selected Karpoche, Barnes and Lucille Collard from the Liberals, despite the Liberals not holding official party status in the Legislature. Skelly's appointment to the Deputy Speaker position was also unusual in that the role was traditionally given to the runner-up of the Speaker's election, which Skelly did not contend in (the true runner-up was Nina Tangri, who was Arnott's only challenger).

The Deputy Speaker is first in line to take the Chair in the absence of the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker is also ex officio the Chair of the Committee of the Whole House. The next three presiding officers are entitled deputy chairs of the Committee of the Whole House.

As with the Speaker, the other presiding officers are required to remain impartial in the Chair, but are not required to resign from their political party. They may participate in debate and vote as with any other member, when not in the Chair.[16]

Title Incumbent[17] Party[14]
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Ted Arnott Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committee of the Whole House Donna Skelly Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House Bhutila Karpoche New Democratic Party of Ontario
Second Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House Patrice Barnes Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Third Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House Lucille Collard Ontario Liberal Party

Residence

The Speaker once had both reception space and an apartment within the Ontario Legislative Building. After the closure of Chorley Park in 1937, the reception space was transferred over to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, as a non-residential vice regal suite. The Speaker maintains a residence at the Legislature, known as the Speaker's Apartment.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b brenthollandshow (2014-10-17), Peter Miliken Speaker Of The House Canada Parliament Ottawa Brent Holland Show, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2019-07-16
  2. ^ "Hansard Transcripts 1985-Jun-04 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario".
  3. ^ Hall, Chris (November 18, 1990). "3 area MPPs after Speaker's job in legislature's first free vote; Toronto New Democrat is fourth entry in race". The Ottawa Citizen. p. D2.
  4. ^ "Elected speaker promises to keep MPPs 'thoughtful'". The Windsor Star. November 20, 1990. p. A2.
  5. ^ "Hansard Transcripts 1990-Nov-19 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario".
  6. ^ a b c "MPPs defy Doug Ford, re-elect Ted Arnott as speaker of the Ontario Legislature". Toronto Star. August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  7. ^ "Hansard Transcripts 1996-Oct-03 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario".
  8. ^ Howlett, Karen (November 21, 2011). "Dave Levac elected Ontario Speaker". Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  9. ^ "Levac re-elected Speaker". Belleville Expositor. July 2, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Role of the Speaker | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  11. ^ "Current MPPs". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  12. ^ "Office and Role of Speaker". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  13. ^ Ontario. Legislative Library; Dale, Clare A. (1992). "Whose servant I am" : speakers of the assemblies of the province of Upper Canada, Canada and Ontario, 1792-1992. Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Toronto : Ontario Legislative Library.
  14. ^ a b "The Speaker". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  15. ^ a b "Standing orders | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  16. ^ "Presiding officers and Clerks | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  17. ^ "Orders and Notices 2022-Aug-17 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario".
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