Debates of Jan. 29th, 2001

Election Of Speaker

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

It is a very great pleasure for me to call you Mr. Speaker for the first time, dear member for Kingston and the Islands.

It is for all of us a great occasion on which to congratulate you. You have had a lot of experience and have served the House of Commons for a long time. I am told that when you were at the advanced age of eight you said that you wanted to be the Speaker of the House of Commons. You have been a very persistent person and I congratulate you for that.

I know we will all be well served. You have devoted many years to learning the rules and the friendships you have with everybody will help you. You will be a very distinguished Speaker.

And so, I wish you the best of luck. I am sure that all members are pleased to have made a choice this afternoon. We know we will be well served indeed with you in the Chair in years to come.

I take this occasion to congratulate everybody who offered to serve as Speaker. They are all very good people and they would have served us very well.

However, as we know, in an election only one can finish at the top and it is your fate today. We know that the others would have been very good and we have to be grateful to them. They all came to our caucus yesterday and made very good presentations. It was a delight to listen to their views. I was thinking about the difficulty that many of us would have today in the election, but now we have to turn the page. I want to thank them all for offering their services.

This is what the House of Commons and democracy are all about. We put ideas forward, we do not always get our way, but we know that if we act in good faith and our ideas make sense, they will eventually be incorporated in House of Commons procedures and be part of the lives of all members.

I offer you, Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons, my expressions of respect and my wishes for success.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to congratulate you first. I am told you are thoughtful and studious, a man with a passion for the rules and procedures of parliament. That is interesting.

Rest assured that the official opposition will support you, not necessarily in examining all the rules and procedures, but certainly in maintaining decorum and respect in this House.

It was interesting to note today, as you were dragged most unwillingly to the chair, how it was reflecting a centuries old reality that at many times it was a high risk position. In fact, one could literally risk one's head depending on the decisions that were made.

Today, by a happy coincidence, you are comforted by the presence of Speakers from across the country who are in the galleries and whom I am sure you will be introducing. I have met with each one of them and I can assure you that their hearts and heads appear to be in the right place. I think that will also be your future.

As the Prime Minister indicated, the interesting work that took place in the caucuses was, I believe, somewhat historic. If you reflect back, as I am sure you could, it was Louis-Joseph Papineau who was elected as Speaker of the Assembly of Lower Canada in 1827. When he presented himself for the formal ratification to the governor, the governor actually refused his ratification thinking that he would send him back to the assembly and the members would then show deference to the governor and change their view.

In fact, it was a serious moment in history because the members said no. They said that it was up to the members to decide these things. Almost a year went by in which the activities of the assembly did not take place. It was only then that the governor said yes, and that the vote and the will of the members took place.

I encourage all members, after the demonstration we have seen today of working together and voting freely, to show a similar resolve in some of the parliamentary obstacles that still lie ahead of us and to work together for the good of all Canadians on whose behalf we were sent here.

Congratulations to you, Mr. Speaker.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to offer my congratulations to you. I know you have long dreamt of this. It proves that tenacity has its rewards. We will take note.

I would like as well to congratulate those who put their name forward for this position today. I think it is one of the important jobs of the House, permitting debate even when we do not share—especially when we do not share—the same ideas. As the English say: “To agree on how to disagree”.

I have no doubt that you will direct our proceedings with an eye on both sides of the House. I am announcing my intention to ask the National Film Board to begin preparations now for the sequel to The Custodian of the Hill .

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to congratulate you on your election as Speaker for this House, which will really be beginning tomorrow.

On behalf of my party, I want to extend our hearty congratulations and express a vote of thanks to all members who put themselves forward in order to serve all members of the House in the role of Speaker.

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the Speaker elected.

When parliament implemented the recommendation of the McGrath committee to establish the election of the Speaker by secret ballot, it was an important step forward. It was an important symbol in establishing the non-partisan nature of the Speaker. It was also intended to be a step in the direction of important parliamentary reform.

Mr. Speaker, all members share with you an interest in and responsibility for moving forward with other parliamentary reforms. Providing the necessary leadership in this regard should not be your responsibility alone, but I do hope and genuinely believe that you will show such leadership.

You have been a serious student of parliamentary procedure. In your role as Deputy Speaker you have always presided over this Chamber fairly, firmly, and with a twinkle in your eye. I think that is important. Unfortunately we are not quite as able to see the twinkle in the Speaker's eye today from this vantage point.

In addition to being very serious about the importance of the role and its non-partisan nature, the Speaker elected today genuinely loves this parliament, loves the role that has been bestowed upon him, and will discharge his obligations with a real sense of joy and fun that will benefit all of us.

I want to just say one word to the Speaker's family members who are here. Many think that graduating from Queen's University is the highest honour a family member could achieve. In addition to having honoured your family by graduating from Queen's University, and having been four times elected to represent the people of Kingston and the Islands, you have today enjoyed the ultimate confidence of your peers in being elected to serve us, and thereby serve the people of Canada, in the role of Speaker of the 37th parliament.

On behalf of my colleagues I want to wish you bonne chance, félicitations et bonne santé. Let the work begin.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, may I extend my congratulations to you. There is nothing extraordinary about the member for Kingston and the Islands playing such an important role in the life of parliament, nor is it the first time such a thing has happened. Sir John A. Macdonald, as well as Flora MacDonald, have represented this riding. It is a riding that has a strong tradition of service to the country and, today, you are part of that tradition.

I also congratulate the other candidates who put their names forward. I encouraged the members of my caucus not to put their names forward for this, and you are just fortunate, Mr. Speaker, that the hon. member for Saint John followed my advice on this occasion.

Mr. Speaker, we all recognize your long interest in this institution. As the Prime Minister said, you were a student of this institution before you were a member here. You understand the reason there is a parliament. You understand the responsibilities of this institution. You understand the importance of treating each member here as an individual with equal rights and equal responsibilities.

We as your constituents will be holding you to account for that view as we go forward.

We also all know that we are meeting at a time and electing a Speaker at a time when there is a declining respect for parliament and the profession of politics as a whole. It is a responsibility upon all of us in the next four years to ensure that we change that pattern and re-establish a respect for this institution.

That has to do with more than just comportment on the floor of the House. It has to do with more than what might be called respect. It also has to do with ensuring that this place becomes a House that has the power to determine the destiny of the country.

The House of Commons was established to have members of parliament with power, to have influence over affairs and a parliament with power to control the spending of government. We are all equal here.

There is a great difference between a government and a parliament. In a government there is a primus inter pares. The Prime Minister is a leader among others but not here. In the House of Commons we are all equal as members of parliament. With the greatest of respect to you, we expect to be treated that way in the days to come.

The House of Commons itself will consider changes in the rules and the regulations that need to be introduced. We are counting upon you to ensure that the rules now in place are interpreted in a sense of fairness and equality and make the House earn the respect of the people of the country. We all want to serve our country. We know you do too.

We congratulate you on your election today. On behalf of my party we look forward to working very constructively with you in the interests of parliament and of Canada.

[The Speaker]

I thank all hon. members for their very kind comments.

In my maiden speech, I forgot to thank all the other candidates from both sides of the House. It was a pleasure to work with them during the election period.

I must say that I think all of us enjoyed very cordial and pleasant relations during the campaign, if we can call it such, and particularly at the all candidates meetings yesterday and this morning when we made our presentations.

I thank all of them for being so graceful and pleasant colleagues in the election.

The Speaker read to the House a letter from the Deputy Secretary to the Governor General informing him that Her Excellency, the Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor General of Canada and His Excellency John Ralston Saul, would arrive at the Peace Tower at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 30, 2001, and when it has been indicated that all is in readiness, their Excellencies would proceed to the chamber of the Senate to formally open the first session of the 37th Parliament of Canada.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I also wish to inform the House of the presence in the gallery of speakers of Canada's provincial legislatures: the honourable Bev Harrision, the honourable Kevin O'Brien, the honourable Lloyd Snow, the honourable Ron Osika, the honourable Tony Whitford, the honourable Murray Scott, and the honourable Mildred Dover.

If they would all rise, we would be delighted to welcome them to the House of Commons today.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

The House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. at which time the House will proceed to the Senate, where Her Excellency will open the first session of the 37th parliament.

(The House adjourned at 4.15 p.m.)