First and Forty-Five
We are so back. A new Parliament opens today and His Majesty is here to see most of it unfold. What's on deck in the hours to come? Read on...
Good to see you again, friends. It’s been a minute! With a new Parliament scheduled to open today, I thought I’d do something a little different than what you’re used to for the next little while.
You’ll still get your fair share of hot takes, but this time, we’ll go deeper into the Routine Proceedings that make a Parliament function.
What’s on the Order Paper?
What miniscule piece of procedure might be used in the days and weeks ahead?
What can we look forward to in today’s sitting?
All these questions and more will be answered below…
Session Zero
Every First Session of Parliament starts off with the election of a Speaker.
Right?
Well, not exactly.
Consider it the Parliamentary equivalent of Session Zero in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. There’s some administrative and traditional tasks to be completed before the Dean of the House - the longest-tenured Member of Parliament who isn’t a Minister - oversees the Speaker election.
Not too long after 8:00 AM, the Usher of the Black Rod will proclaim that Members of the House of Commons are requested to attend the Senate immediately.
The Clerk of the House will lead a small delegation of MPs (likely by shuttle bus) from West Block to the Senate Building to be received by a Deputy of the Governor General - this may be the Chief Justice or another Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Speaker of the Senate will then read a message from the Deputy of the Governor General to assembled MPs. The proclamation - which may also be in the name of His Majesty The King as opposed to Her Excellency The Governor General - may be worded as followed:
I have it in command to let you know that Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada (or His Majesty The King) does not see fit to declare the causes of Her (or His) summoning the present Parliament of Canada until a Speaker of the House of Commons shall have been chosen, according to law; but tomorrow morning, Tuesday, May 27, at the hour of eleven o'clock, Her Excellency (or His Majesty) will declare the causes of Her (or His) calling this Parliament.
The House, having been given a light scolding by the Crown that a Speaker is needed, will then return to West Block to begin the election process.
Roll For Initiative
With MPs now assembled back in the Chamber, pursuant to Standing Order 3(1), the Clerk will invite the Dean of the House - the Member with the longest period of unbroken service who is not a Minister nor holds any House or Party leadership position - to preside over the election. For the seventh consecutive Speaker’s election, this honour falls to Bloc MP Louis Plamondon, first elected in 1984.
The Chair will deliver a short set of remarks welcoming all Members to the House, and will then guide the House through a process outlined definitively in the Standing Orders.
Having received a list of MPs who did not opt-out of the Speaker’s election (it’s not an opt-in process; however, Ministers and Party Leaders are automatically excluded), the Chair will then ask any MPs on that list if they wish to withdraw.
If no candidate withdraws, the Chair will then invite each candidate to deliver a speech of not more than five minutes (pursuant to Standing Order 3.1). When speeches are complete, the House will suspend for 30 minutes to allow any additional mingling, lobbying, negotiating, and strategizing to take place.
The Initiative Order
The final list of candidates standing to become Speaker of the House has eight names:
Sean Casey - Liberal MP for Charlottetown (2011-present)
Chris D’Entremont - Conservative MP for Acadie-Annapolis (2019-present)
Hon. Greg Fergus - Liberal MP for Hull-Aylmer (2015-present)
Alexandra Mendès - Liberal MP for Brossard—Saint-Lambert (2008-2011, 2015-present)
John Nater - Conservative MP for Perth—Wellington (2015-present)
Hon. Rob Oliphant - Liberal MP for Don Valley West (2008-2011, 2015-present)
Sherry Romanado - Liberal MP for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne (2015-present)
Francis Scarpaleggia - Liberal MP for Lac-Saint-Louis (2004-present)
How do they all stack up?
Five candidates - Greg Fergus, Francis Scarpaleggia, Sean Casey, Rob Oliphant, and Sherry Romanado - previously chaired a Parliamentary Committee.
Four candidates - Sean Casey, Greg Fergus, Rob Oliphant, and Sherry Romanado - previously served as a Parliamentary Secretary.
Three candidates - Greg Fergus, Chris D’Entremont, and Alexandra Mendès - held at least one of the Speakership roles (Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Associate Deputy Speaker) in the most recent Parliament.
Two candidates - John Nater and Sherry Romanado - once served as Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition and the Government respectively.
One candidate - Francis Scarpaleggia - served as their party’s Caucus Chair.
Back in Action
Here’s where the fun begins.
After the Dean summons the House back from its thirty-minute suspension, he will explain the balloting process to all Members. The Speaker is elected through a ranked ballot, with MPs stating their preferences on one ballot paper (without the need to vote repeatedly throughout the day).
Once every MP has voted, the Dean will cast his ballot and place it into the sealed box. The House will then suspend for the count. Assisted by their team of Table Officers, the Clerk is responsible for counting each ballot, recording first preference votes, and administering subsequent rounds of counting if needed.
Much like white smoke above the Sistine Chapel, division bells will ring out in the Parliamentary Precinct for ten minutes advising Members that a Speaker has been elected and their presence is needed in the House. In 2021, the time from suspension to resumption was a little over one hour. In 2023, it took around 90 minutes.
The Dean will then announce the name of the next Speaker, and - in following with centuries-old traditions - will be dragged by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Official Opposition from their seat to their new Speaker’s Chair.
Here’s some fun trivia for your morning: The first time Mark Carney will be referred to as the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister in Hansard is likely to be when he’s dragging the new Speaker up to the Chair.
What’s Next?
The new Speaker will deliver remarks that start with their “humble acknowledgements to the House for the great honour they have been pleased to confer upon [them] by choosing [them] to be their Speaker.” They will then invite the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Official Opposition, and the Leader of the Bloc Quebecois (as leaders of parties with official status) to say a few words. This will be the first time Mark Carney speaks in the House of Commons as Prime Minister.
After this, we may have our first procedural wrangling of this new Parliament, as there remain two other party leaders in the House - Don Davies and Elizabeth May - who may wish to also deliver some remarks.
At the outset of the 44th Parliament, unanimous consent was not granted to the Green Party to address the House after the election of a Speaker. It’s quite possible that unanimous consent is denied to both the NDP and Greens should this situation arise later today.
When all remarks are delivered, the Speaker will inform the House that a message was received. This is traditionally addressed from the Governor General; however, with His Majesty The King delivering the Speech from the Throne, it is likely to be worded as follows:
I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Canada and His Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth and Her Majesty The Queen will arrive at the Senate of Canada Building at 11:00 AM. on Tuesday, the 27th day of May, 2025. When it has been indicated that all is in readiness, His Majesty The King will proceed to the Chamber of the Senate to formally open the First Session of the Forty-Fifth Parliament of Canada.
When this message is read, the House then adjourns for the day.
See you tomorrow morning for another preview of the day to come!
Have any suggestions for future articles as this new Parliament begins? Leave a comment below!