SoVote

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Oct/3/23 10:28:12 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour to speak today at this unique sitting. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend in person. Because of my inability to be on an airplane at this point in my life due to having had a stroke, and I am, as you see, recovering quite well, I cannot participate in person, which means I also cannot vote, which is a terrible shame. I am participating this way because I want to make sure this election for the Speaker takes into account what I think are the essential elements for the next Speaker of the House. We must follow our rules. For me, this is essential. If you walk down the back corridor behind the Speaker's chair, you will see the portraits of former Speakers. I do think you should pause in front of the portrait of Lucien Lamoureux, who served this place from 1966 to 1974. He was the best of all of our Speakers. He personified nonpartisanship. Elected as a Liberal in the government of Lester B. Pearson, when Lucien Lamoureux ran for re-election as a sitting Speaker, he did so twice as an independent. He also applied our rules, which meant he was not always popular, and he was not elected. He was able to enforce the rules. Everyone who has spoken has said our rules are important, but on a daily basis we ignore Standing Orders 16 and 18, which require that we respect one another and that we treat each other with respect. I completely agree with my colleague, the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer. Respect is of the utmost importance. However, we have made it a habit to flout our rules. We ignore our rules at our peril. I cite the hon. member for Nipissing—Timiskaming for his service, and the tragedy that unfolded in this place could have been avoided if we had followed our rules. There are rules about recognizing visitors in the galleries. In this case, it is clear that the rules were broken in acknowledging that man's presence. I know that because I tried to convince the former Speaker to recognize someone whom I thought did deserve recognition in our gallery, only to be told that Dr. David Suzuki did not qualify, so I know the rules represent a steep hill to climb to have someone recognized in the gallery. I cannot imagine how this happened, but I also agree words are not enough. That moment in this House brought back the words of the late Irving Abella, who said that in our history it was easier to gain entry to Canada as a Nazi than as a Jew. I think we have to do more than say we are sorry. I think we have to atone and open up the records of the Deschênes commission. We have to look at our history, just as we do on the day of truth and reconciliation for the injustices and genocide toward indigenous peoples. We must follow our rules. The Speaker's role is essential, as the Speaker is the only person who can decide who speaks in question period. It has been 40 years that the Speaker has broken the rules every single day, regardless what Speaker we are talking about, by accepting a list from a party whip that tells him or her who speaks and in what order. That abomination has moved the system of rewards and punishments from the Speaker to the party whip. The party whips are not the people we want to please if we want this place to operate with respect and to make Canadians look at the House of Commons and think, “There is a place I respect; that is democracy in action.” We can try harder and we can do better. It is possible. All of those running in this election are more than qualified to be good Speakers of the House. If it were my honour to fill that role, I cannot tell you how overwhelmed I would be. However, I think it is not likely, and I encourage you to vote for the person you think will be your best Speaker. I pledge my support to the next Speaker, whoever is brave enough to go back to following our rule that only the Speaker chooses who speaks in question period. This was confirmed when the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was the Speaker of the House, in April 2013 on a point of order from the late Mark Warawa. It would no doubt improve our proceedings enormously. With that, I wish you all the best of luck. Good luck to all of my colleagues who are hoping to be the next Speaker. I miss you all and cannot wait to see you all again. You know I love you all. I really miss you and want to give you a big hug. Thank you very much. I wish you the best of luck. God bless you.

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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23

The Presiding Officer (Hon. Louis Plamondon)

Oct/3/23 1:28:26 p.m.
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It is my duty to inform the House that a Speaker of the House has been duly elected. It is with great pleasure that I invite the hon. member for the electoral district of Hull—Aylmer to take the chair. Some hon. members: Hear, hear! The Presiding Officer (Hon. Louis Plamondon): I now invite the right hon. Prime Minister and the hon. Leader of the Opposition to escort the Hon. Greg Fergus to the chair. (The Presiding Officer having vacated the chair, the right hon. Prime Minister and the hon. Leader of the Opposition conducted Mr. Greg Fergus from his seat in the House to the chair)

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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23

Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Oct/3/23 1:42:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the government and every member of this House, I want to congratulate you on your election. I also want to thank all the other candidates for the speakership. I thank them for answering the call to keep our democracy healthy and strong. Mr. Speaker, today, you are the first Black Canadian to become Speaker of the House. This should be inspiring for all Canadians, especially those in younger generations who want to get involved in politics. Congratulations. The House is the home of Canadian democracy. Members of Parliament come from every corner of the country to represent their communities. Canadians from coast to coast to coast elect us to work hard for them and to be their voices in this place. They elected us to deliver results to help make their lives better. This remains our number one job. The only way we can make progress is by working together and by respecting each other.

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Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Oct/3/23 1:45:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to congratulate you. Mr. Speaker, are you sure you know what you have gotten yourself into? I know you have strong enough arms for the job because I had the difficult task of dragging you all the way to that chair. We thought for a moment that you had changed your mind when you took a turn to congratulate one of our colleagues on this side, but it is an incredible achievement to serve in the role that Parliament has bestowed upon you. To serve here, in the House of Commons, is an honour for every member. Each of us should be proud to be responsible for working on behalf of some 100,000 people. At times, however, we forget the order in which power is exercised. We think that the Prime Minister is at the top, with the House of Commons below, and the people down at the very bottom, but the opposite is true. In a democracy, the people have the power. We serve the people, and the government serves parliamentarians. In fact, that is why Parliament was invented. The reason these floors and seats are green is that the first commoners met in fields. They were the peasants and farmers who were tired of having their crops taxed away by an impossibly cruel Crown. They gathered to force King John to sign the Magna Carta, the great charter, which of course restrained the power of the Crown. Today, we have a similar circumstance, with a government that is excessively powerful and costly. It has overburdened the population and created unprecedented strain, particularly on middle-class and working-class people, who are now forced in many cases to live in tents and who are losing their homes and skipping meals. We have seven million people who cannot afford food because of the inflationary taxes imposed on that food by an overly greedy government. Now, more than ever, the role of Parliament in restraining the power of the Prime Minister is primordial. We will continue to carry out that role proudly on the floor of this House of Commons because we will always remember that we are servants and not masters of the Canadian people. We will do it with common sense. Why is this important? Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Hon. Pierre Poilievre: I hear that some members of the government do not like the sound of the words “common sense”. We can understand why they would not, but is it not interesting that this is called the House of Commons for a reason? Common wisdom, our common resources, our common heritage and our common future are determined by the people elected to serve in this place. We must always do it with common sense, the common sense of the common people, united for our common home: their home, my home, our House. Let us bring it home.

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