Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

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.

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

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
SpeakerTerm Legislature(s)Term lengthParty
1 John Stevenson27 December 18677 December 1871 13 years, 345 daysConservative
2 Richard William Scott7 December 187121 December 1871 214 daysLiberal
3 James George Currie21 December 187129 March 1873 21 year, 98 daysLiberal
4 Rupert Mearse Wells7 January 18747 January 1880 2, 36 years, 0 daysLiberal
5 Charles J. P. Clarke[lower-alpha 1]7 January 188010 February 1887 4, 57 years, 34 daysLiberal
6 Jacob Baxter10 February 188711 February 1891 64 years, 1 dayLiberal
7 Thomas Ballantyne11 February 189121 February 1895 74 years, 10 daysLiberal
8 William Douglas Balfour21 February 189514 July 1896 81 year, 144 daysLiberal
9 Francis Eugene Alfred Evanturel10 February 189710 March 1903 8, 96 years, 239 daysLiberal
10 William Andrew Charlton10 March 190322 March 1905 102 years, 12 daysLiberal
11 Joseph Wesley St. John22 March 19057 April 1907 112 years, 16 daysConservative
12 Thomas Crawford8 April 19077 February 1912 11, 124 years, 306 daysConservative
13 William Henry Hoyle7 February 191216 February 1915 133 years, 9 daysConservative
14 David Jamieson16 February 19159 March 1920 145 years, 22 daysConservative
15 Nelson Parliament9 March 19206 February 1924 153 years, 334 daysIndependent[lower-alpha 2]
16 Joseph Elijah Thompson6 February 19242 February 1927 162 years, 361 daysConservative
17 William David Black2 February 19275 February 1930 173 years, 3 daysConservative
18 Thomas Ashmore Kidd5 February 193020 February 1935 185 years, 15 daysConservative
19 Norman Otto Hipel20 February 19352 September 1938 19, 203 years, 194 daysLiberal
20 James Howard Clark8 March 193922 February 1944 204 years, 351 daysLiberal
21 William James Stewart22 February 194421 March 1947 21, 223 years, 27 daysConservative
22 James de Congalton Hepburn24 March 194710 February 1949 221 year, 323 daysConservative
23 Maurice Coleman Davies10 February 19498 September 1955 23, 246 years, 210 daysConservative
24 Alfred Downer8 September 195526 January 1960 254 years, 140 daysProgressive Conservative
25 William Murdoch26 January 196029 October 1963 263 years, 276 daysProgressive Conservative
26 Donald Hugo Morrow29 October 196314 February 1968 274 years, 108 daysProgressive Conservative
27 Frederick McIntosh Cass14 February 196813 December 1971 283 years, 302 daysProgressive Conservative
28 Allan Edward Reuter13 December 197122 October 1974 292 years, 313 daysProgressive Conservative
29 Russell Daniel Rowe22 October 197417 October 1977 29, 30, 312 years, 360 daysProgressive Conservative
30 John Edward "Jack" Stokes17 October 197721 April 1981 313 years, 186 daysNew Democratic Party
31 John M. Turner21 April 19814 June 1985 324 years, 44 daysProgressive Conservative
32 Hugh Alden Edighoffer4 June 198519 November 1990 33, 345 years, 168 daysLiberal
33 David William Warner19 November 199026 September 1995 354 years, 311 daysNew Democratic Party
34 Al McLean26 September 199526 September 1996 361 year, 0 daysProgressive Conservative
35 Edward Doyle26 September 19963 October 1996 367 daysProgressive Conservative
36 Chris Stockwell3 October 199620 October 1999 363 years, 17 daysProgressive Conservative
37 Gary Carr20 October 199919 November 2003 374 years, 30 daysProgressive Conservative
38 Alvin Curling19 November 200319 August 2005 381 year, 326 daysLiberal
39 Michael A. Brown11 October 200528 November 2007 382 years, 48 daysLiberal
40 Stephen Peters28 November 200721 November 2011 393 years, 358 daysLiberal
41 Dave Levac21 November 20118 May 2018 40, 416 years, 168 daysLiberal
42 Ted Arnott11 July 2018Present 42, 435 years, 91 daysProgressive 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. 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. "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. "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. "The Speaker". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  15. "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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