Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says she would like to run for the position of Speaker of the House during the next Parliament, and that she is open to a position in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet.
“I’ve left my name in the lineup in the Speaker’s elections quite a few times without campaigning to be Speaker,” she said during an interview with CTV News on April 30. “But I have concerns about how far the Canadian Parliament and the role of the Canadian Speaker have departed from our rules and our traditions.”
May was also asked if she would be open to a position in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet.
“I’m open to lots of things,” she replied. “It doesn’t mean they’re at all likely, and they’re pretty hypothetical.”
The Green Party held two seats in the previous Parliament, which was reduced to one seat in the April 28 federal election. May won re-election in her B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, which she has held since 2008. Green MP Mike Morrice, who had been an MP for Kitchener Centre since 2021, lost his seat to the Conservatives.
May’s Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, who ran in the Montreal riding of Outremont, was defeated and resigned from the position the next day.
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May said she is “open” to becoming House Speaker, as she is “passionately committed to Parliament working well and to respectful discourse.” But she said this was “way too hypothetical” at the moment.
May previously ran for the role of Speaker in 2023, alongside seven other candidates. MPs ultimately voted for Liberal MP Greg Fergus to take over the role.
The previous House Speaker, Liberal MP Anthony Rota, had his position come to an abrupt end following an incident where he inadvertently gave tribute to a former member of a Nazi military unit in Parliament. Rota resigned as Speaker and did not run for re-election in 2025.
Electing a new House Speaker is the first step of a new parliamentary session, before swearing in the new MPs. The Speaker serves as an impartial adjudicator of House proceedings, maintains order and decorum while interpreting Parliament’s rules, and only votes in proceedings in order to break a tie.
The position of Speaker also comes with perks such as an additional $92,800 on top of the $194,600 base salary for MPs, a $1,000 car allowance, a new apartment on Parliament Hill, and an official country residence in Quebec’s Gatineau Hill.
