MP Francis Scarpaleggia of the Liberal Party elected as new Speaker of the House of Commons
MPs have chosen a veteran Liberal MP from Quebec as the new Speaker of the House of Commons, a job with the challenge of refereeing conduct and proceedings as the Liberals try to govern with a minority of seats.
Francis Scarpaleggia, the member for Lac-Saint-Louis in Quebec since 2004, was elected by MPs after he and five other Liberal candidates delivered five-minute speeches to members assembled for the first time since December.
Among those he defeated was Greg Fergus, who last held the Speaker’s post and faced calls from opposition parties for his resignation over accusations of partisan conduct.
The Speaker’s post comes with a $99,900 top-up to the $209,800 salary for being an MP. In addition, the Speaker has access to an official residence known as the Farm, located in the Gatineau Hills.
While the most high-profile part of the job is being in the Speaker’s chair refereeing debates, moderating Question Period, and only voting in the event of a tie, there is another side of the job.
The Speaker also chairs the Board of Internal Economy, which oversees the House of Commons’ administration and finances.
But in his five-minute pitch to win the job, Mr. Scarpaleggia spoke to mediating proceedings.
“I believe it possible to skillfully and convincingly dissect and refute an argument without recourse to personal invective or intimidation. I have seen all colleagues from all parties achieve this standard,” said the Montreal-area MP.
He said his two decades in Parliament had prepared him for the challenge of finding the balance between respect and order on one hand and vigorous debate that clarifies issues on the other.
“Colleagues. We have a duty to Canadians and to ourselves to cultivate our parliamentary democracy in an increasingly turbulent world where many argue that democracy is just too inefficient and time consuming,” he said.
He said there are no bad seats in the Commons. “We are all equal here,” he told MPs. “We have all travelled the same road and faced challenges and come up against obstacles on the way to earning the honour and the privilege of being the voices of our constituents in this Parliament.”
Upon winning the vote, and taking the Speaker’s chair, Mr. Scarpaleggia thanked MPs for their support, and saluted the other five Liberal MPs who sought the position.
He also paid tribute to Mr. Fergus, saying his predecessor handled the job in feisty times near the end of the last mandate and ahead of the recent election when “things tend to get a little feistier.”
He added, “I would remind members that we are at the beginning of a mandate in the selfish hope that you will afford me a little grace period.”
No vote totals were released.
The candidates were MPs Sean Casey, Mr. Fergus, Alexandra Mendès, Robert Oliphant, Sherry Romanado and Mr. Scarpaleggia.
Conservative candidates John Nater and Chris d‘Entremont – previously a deputy speaker – withdrew their names from contention.
Mr. d‘Entremont told journalists that, based on a conversation with his colleagues, a consensus emerged that it was important to find the best Speaker among the Liberals so the Conservatives did not have to give up a member who could otherwise participate in Commons votes.
“I’m disappointed, yes, but I want to make sure the House functions as best as it possibly can. I think Mr. Scarpaleggia will do a great job,” he said.
Mr. d‘Entremont said there are members of the Conservative caucus interested in the deputy speaker position he previously held so there will be talks in caucus on that issue.
Asked why he waited until the last minute to withdraw, Mr. d‘Entremont said the Conservatives did not want to preview the plan. “There’s a little bit of gamesmanship that goes in there too,” he said.
The Liberals have 169 seats, three short of a majority, so they will have only 168 votes in Parliament without Mr. Scarpaleggia’s vote.
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
