In Canada the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the lower house and is elected by fellow MPs. The Speaker's role in Canada is similar to that of Speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system (see Speaker of the House of Commons).

Traditionally in Canada the Speaker was appointed by the Prime Minister, but in 1986 this was changed and they are now selected by secret ballot. The Speaker remains a sitting MP, but only votes on matters in the case of a tie. In Canada it is the Speaker's responsibility to manage the House of Commons and supervise its staff. It is also the Speaker's duty to act as a liaison with the Senate and the Crown. The Speaker of the House of Commons receives a salary of about $209,000 (Cdn) and has use of the official residence, the Kingsmere estate outside Gatineau, Quebec, just across the river from Ottawa. The current Speaker is Ontario Liberal MP Peter Milliken.

The Speaker's counterpart in the upper house is the Speaker of the Canadian Senate.

Canadian provincial and territorial legislatures also have Speakers with much the same roles.

Procedures

After an election by secret ballot, the speaker is dragged to the chair. The tradition is borrowed from Britain, where speakers of the House once ran the risk of losing their heads to irritated regents.

List of Federal Speakers

1. James Cockburn - June 11, 1867 - March 5, 1874 Conservative
2. Timothy Warren Anglin - March 26, 1874 - February 12, 1879 Liberal
3. Joseph Godéric Blanchet - February 13, 1879 - February 7, 1883 Liberal-Conservative
4. George Airey Kirkpatrick - February 8, 1883 - July 12, 1887 Conservative
5. Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet - July 13, 1887 - July 28, 1891 Conservative
6. Peter White - July 29, 1891 - August 18, 1896 Conservative
7. James David Edgar - August 19, 1896 - July 31, 1899 Liberal
8. Thomas Bain - August 1, 1899 - February 5, 1901 Liberal
9. Louis Philippe Brodeur - February 6, 1901 - January 18, 1904 Liberal
10. Napoléon Antoine Belcourt - March 10, 1904 - January 10, 1905 Liberal
11. Robert Franklin Sutherland - January 11, 1905 - January 19, 1909 Liberal
12. Charles Marcil - January 20, 1909 - November 14, 1911 Liberal
13. Thomas Simpson Sproule - November 15, 1911 - December 2, 1915
14. Albert Sévigny - January 12, 1916 - January 7, 1917 Conservative
15. Edgar Nelson Rhodes - January 18, 1917 - March 5, 1922 Conservative
16. Rodolphe Lemieux - March 8, 1922 - June 2, 1930 Liberal
17. George Black - September 8, 1930 - January 16, 1935 Conservative
18. James Langstaff Bowman - January 17, 1935 - February 5, 1936 Conservative
19. Pierre-François Casgrain - February 6, 1936 - May 10, 1940 Liberal
20. James Allison Glen - May 16, 1940 - September 5, 1945 Liberal
21. Gaspard Fauteux - September 6, 1945 - September 14, 1949 Liberal
22. William Ross Macdonald - September 15, 1949 - June 11, 1953 Liberal
23. Louis-René Beaudoin - November 12, 1953 - October 13, 1957 Liberal
24. Roland Michener - October 14, 1957 - September 26, 1962 Progressive Conservative
25. Marcel Lambert - September 27, 1962 - May 15, 1963 Progressive Conservative
26. Alan Macnaughton - May 16, 1963 - January 17, 1966 Liberal
27. Lucien Lamoureux - January 18, 1966 - September 29, 1974 Liberal/Independent++
28. James Alexander Jerome - September 30, 1974 - December 14, 1979 Liberal
29. Jeanne Sauvé - April 14, 1980 - January 15, 1984 Liberal
30. Cyril Lloyd Francis - January 16, 1984 - November 4, 1984 Liberal
31. John William Bosley - November 5, 1984 - September 29, 1986 Progressive Conservative
32. John Allen Fraser - September 30, 1986 - January 16, 1994 Progressive Conservative
33. Gilbert Parent - January 17, 1994 - January 28, 2001 Liberal
34. Peter Milliken - January 29, 2001 - present Liberal

++Lamoureaux emulated the tradition of the Speaker of the British House of Commons and ran for re-election as an Independent MP in the 1968 and 1972 general elections.

External link

• Parliamentary Library of Canada - contains biographies of all of Canada's speakers and information on the historical development and current role of the position.