44th Parl. 1st Sess.

May 4, 2022 02:00PM

Mrs. Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, NDP)

May/4/22 3:41:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Hon. John Bosley, former MP, 31st Speaker of the House of Commons and former parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Joe Clark. Mr. Bosley's time in the Speaker's chair was not extensive, lasting from 1984 to 1986, but his work laid the foundation for important changes to the Standing Orders, requiring MPs' questions to be relevant and on topic. Those are the same rules that, from time to time, some parliamentarians still try to ignore to this day. One interesting fact about the changes to the Standing Orders was that they were used as quickly as they came into effect. As a matter of fact, NDP MP Jim Fulton, on the day the Standing Orders changed, was ejected from the House for accusing a minister of lying, with Speaker Bosley stating: The Member gives me no choice. I must name the Member and require that he leave the House for the rest of the day. I must do so. I must name the Hon. Member for Skeena and I must ask him to leave the House for the rest of the day, under the authority of the new rules. Speaker Bosley was the very last Speaker appointed by a prime minister after changing the rules in 1995 to allow MPs to democratically elect the Speaker of the House of Commons by secret ballot. He resigned from the Speakership unexpectedly in September of 1986, paving the way for the House’s first elected Speaker, The Hon. John Fraser. Sadly, I never had the opportunity to meet the Hon. John Bosley, but former NDP MP Bill Blaikie shared some of his memories of Mr. Bosley. I remind members that Mr. Blaikie also served as Deputy Speaker of the House between 2006 and 2008. Bill Blaikie described Speaker Bosley as a very kind colleague who was fair and honest in his role and decisions as Speaker. Bill also recalled that, even back then, Wednesdays were always a bit rowdier following each party's respective caucus meetings. Bill related that on Wednesdays, Speaker Bosley would often comment, “Oh, it must be Wednesday. Wonderful Wednesdays.” In my experience over the years, I and so many other speakers who are chairing or have chaired in the House can relate to John's sentiment about “wonderful Wednesdays”. As we saw, today it is no different. Mr. Bosley dedicated his life to public service. I touched upon his duties as a parliamentary secretary to former prime minister Joe Clark, but he also spent the entirety of the eighties as an elected MP. His tenure in the House of Commons lasted for 14 years. We can infer that his defeat was likely not a result of his performance as an MP, given that the election of 1993 proved devastating to the Progressive Conservatives, as they were reduced from 257 seats to two. Even after losing his seat, he retained his passion for politics and served as an advisor on institutional development to parliaments all over the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. To John's family, I know that they have lost a tremendous individual who, over the years, dedicated so much of himself to not only this country but to others abroad as well. They should know that his legacy will live on throughout these halls. On behalf of our NDP leader, my NDP colleagues and myself, may they please accept our deepest condolences for their loss.

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