CHAPTER I

PRESIDING OFFICERS

Elections and Appointments

2.

First order of business.

(1) At the opening of the first session of a Parliament, and at any other time as determined pursuant to section (2) of this standing order, the election of a Speaker shall be the first order of business and shall not be interrupted by any other proceeding.

Vacancy in Office of Speaker.

(2) When there is, or is to be, a vacancy in the Office of the Speaker, whether at the opening of a Parliament, or because the incumbent of that office has indicated his or her intention to resign the Office of Speaker, or for any other reason, the members, when they are ready, shall proceed to the election of a Speaker.

Precedence over all other business. Adjournment of the House.

(3) The election of a Speaker shall take precedence over all other business and no motion for adjournment nor any other motion shall be accepted while it is proceeding and the House shall continue to sit, if necessary, beyond its ordinary hour of daily adjournment, notwithstanding any other standing or special order, until a Speaker is declared elected, and is installed in the chair in the usual manner, provided that if the House has continued to sit beyond its ordinary hour of daily adjournment, the Speaker shall thereupon adjourn the House until the next sitting day.

3.

Member presiding during election.

(1) During an election of a Speaker the chair shall be taken by:

(a) at the opening of a Parliament, the member who has had the longest period of unbroken service as determined by reference to his or her position on the list published in the Canada Gazette, and who is neither a minister of the Crown, nor holds any office within the House including that of leader of a party; or,

(b) in the case of the Speaker having indicated his or her intention to resign that office, the Speaker; and

(c) at other times, in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole as provided by statute.

Powers and vote of member presiding during election.

(2) The member presiding during the election of a Speaker shall be vested with all the powers of the Chair provided that he or she:

(a) shall be entitled to vote in the election of a Speaker; and

(b) shall have no casting vote in the event of there being an equality of votes cast for two candidates.

3.1

Candidates for speakership may address House prior to election.

Before proceeding with the election of a Speaker pursuant to Standing Order 4, the member presiding shall call upon any candidate for the Office of Speaker to address the House for not more than five minutes; when no further candidate rises to speak, the member presiding shall leave the chair for 30 minutes after which members shall proceed to the election of a Speaker.

4.

Balloting procedure.

The election of a Speaker shall be conducted by secret ballot as follows:

Notification to clerk when member does not wish to be considered for election. List of names to be provided to member presiding during election.

(1) Any member who does not wish to be considered for election to the Office of Speaker shall, not later than 6:00 p.m. on the day preceding the day on which the election of a Speaker is expected to take place, in writing, so inform the Clerk of the House who shall prepare a list of such members’ names together with a list of the names of all ministers of the Crown and party leaders, and shall provide the same to the member presiding prior to the taking of the ballot.

Ballot papers.

(2) Members present in the chamber shall be provided by the Clerk of the House with ballot papers, on which shall be listed, in alphabetical order, the names of all the members whose names have not been placed on the list provided pursuant to section (1) of this standing order.

Announcement of availability of list.

(3) The member presiding shall announce from the chair that the list provided pursuant to section (1) of this standing order is available for consultation at the table.

Choice indicated on ballot paper.

(4) Members wishing to indicate their choice for the Office of Speaker shall rank each candidate listed on the ballot in the member’s order of preference by marking the number “1” in the space adjacent to the name of the candidate who is the member’s first preference, the number “2” in the space adjacent to the name of the member’s second preference and so on until the member has completed the ranking of all the candidates for whom the member wishes to vote.

Ballot validity.

(5) A ballot on which a member has ranked one or more, but not all, of the candidates is valid only in respect of the candidate or candidates whom the member has ranked.

Ballot paper deposited in box.

(6) Members shall deposit their completed ballot papers in a box provided for that purpose on the table.

Counting of ballot papers and announcement of successful candidate.

(7) The Clerk of the House shall, once all members wishing to do so have deposited their ballot papers, count the number of first preferences recorded on the ballots for each candidate, and, if a candidate has received a majority of first preferences, provide the member presiding with the name of that candidate, whereupon the member presiding shall announce the name of the new Speaker.

When no majority of votes.

(8) If, after the count referred to in section (7) of this standing order, no candidate has received a majority of first preferences, the Clerk of the House shall

(a) eliminate the candidate who received the least number of first preferences from any subsequent counts and, in the event that, at the conclusion of a count, there is an equality of votes between two or more candidates, both or all of whom have the fewest first preferences, eliminate all of the candidates for whom there is an equality of first preferences;

(b) in all subsequent counts, treat each second or lower preference as if it were a first preference for the next highest candidate in the order of preference who is not eliminated; and

(c) repeat the process of vote counting described in paragraphs (a) and (b) until one candidate has received a majority of first preferences, at which point the Clerk of the House shall provide the member presiding with the name of that candidate, whereupon the member presiding shall announce the name of the new Speaker.

(9) Every ballot shall be considered in every count, unless it is exhausted in accordance with section (10) of this standing order.

(10) A ballot is exhausted when all the candidates on that ballot in respect of which a preference has been made are eliminated.

Subsequent ballots.

(11) In the event that, after all other candidates have been eliminated, the process of vote counting has resulted in an equality of largest number of first preferences between two or more candidates, members present in the chamber shall be provided by the Clerk of the House with ballot papers, on which shall be listed, in alphabetical order, the names of all candidates who have not been eliminated, and the vote shall proceed in like manner as the first vote.

Destruction of ballot papers.

(12) After a Speaker has been declared elected, the Clerk of the House shall destroy the ballots together with all records of the number of preferences marked for each candidate and the Clerk of the House shall in no way divulge the number of preferences marked for any candidate.

No debate or questions of privilege allowed.

(13) During the election of a Speaker there shall be no debate and the member presiding shall not be permitted to entertain any question of privilege.

5.

Ministers of the Crown and party leaders not eligible.

No minister of the Crown, nor party leader, shall be eligible for election to the Office of Speaker.

6.

Not a question of confidence.

The election of a Speaker shall not be considered to be a question of confidence in the government.

7.

Chair of Committees of the Whole.

(1) At the commencement of every Parliament or whenever there is a vacancy, the Speaker of the House, after consultation with the leaders of each of the officially recognized parties, shall announce to the House the name of a member he or she considers to be qualified for the position of Chair of Committees of the Whole who, upon his or her election to that post, shall also be Deputy Speaker of the House.

Question put forthwith.

(1.1) Following the designation of a member pursuant to section (1) of this standing order, a motion for his or her election shall be deemed to have been moved and seconded and the question shall be put forthwith without debate or amendment.

Language knowledge.

(2) The member elected to serve as Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole shall be required to possess the full and practical knowledge of the official language which is not that of the Speaker for the time being.

Term of office. Vacancy.

(3) The member so elected as Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole shall continue to act in that capacity until the end of the Parliament for which he or she is elected, and in the case of a vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise, the House shall proceed forthwith to elect a successor.

Ad hoc appointment.

(4) In the absence of the Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees of the Whole, the Speaker may, in forming a committee of the whole, before leaving the chair, appoint any member chair of the committee.

8.

Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole and Assistant Deputy Speaker and Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole.

(1) At the commencement of every session, or from time to time as necessity may arise, the Speaker of the House, after consultation with the leaders of each of the officially recognized parties, shall announce to the House the name of a member he or she considers to be qualified for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole and also the name of a member he or she considers to be qualified for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole, either of whom shall, upon his or her election to that post, whenever the Chair of Committees of the Whole is absent, be entitled to exercise all the powers vested in the Chair of Committees of the Whole including his or her powers as Deputy Speaker during the Speaker’s unavoidable absence.

Question put forthwith.

(2) Following the designation of a member pursuant to section (1) of this standing order, a motion for his or her election shall be deemed to have been moved and seconded and the question shall be put forthwith without debate or amendment.

Order and Decorum

9.

Speaker mute in debate. Casting vote.

The Speaker shall not take part in any debate before the House. In case of an equality of voices, the Speaker gives a casting vote, and any reasons stated are entered in the Journals.

10.

Order and decorum. No appeal.

The Speaker shall preserve order and decorum, and shall decide questions of order. In deciding a point of order or practice, the Speaker shall state the standing order or other authority applicable to the case. No debate shall be permitted on any such decision, and no such decision shall be subject to an appeal to the House.

11.

Naming of a member.

(1)(a) The Speaker shall be vested with the authority to maintain order by naming individual members for disregarding the authority of the Chair and, without resort to motion, ordering their withdrawal for the remainder of that sitting, notwithstanding Standing Order 15.

Removal of member disregarding Chair’s authority.

(b) In the event of a member disregarding an order of the Chair made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the Speaker shall order the removal of the member.

Irrelevance or repetition.

(2) The Speaker or the Chair of Committees of the Whole, after having called the attention of the House, or of the committee, to the conduct of a member who persists in irrelevance, or repetition, may direct the member to discontinue his or her speech, and if then the member still continues to speak, the Speaker shall name the member or, if in committee of the whole, the Chair shall report the member to the House.

12.

Decorum in committee of the whole.

The Chair shall maintain order in committees of the whole; deciding all questions of order subject to an appeal to the Speaker; but disorder in a committee of the whole can only be censured by the House, on receiving a report thereof. No debate shall be permitted on any decision.

13.

When motion is contrary to rules and privileges of Parliament.

Whenever the Speaker is of the opinion that a motion offered to the House is contrary to the rules and privileges of Parliament, the Speaker shall apprise the House thereof immediately, before putting the question thereon, and quote the standing order or authority applicable to the case.

14.

Notice of strangers. Question that strangers withdraw. Speaker or Chair decides.

If any member takes notice that strangers are present, the Speaker or the Chair (as the case may be) may put the question “That strangers be ordered to withdraw”, without permitting any debate or amendment; provided that the Speaker or the Chair may order the withdrawal of strangers.