Among the tour groups converging on Parliament Hill under umbrellas this week, new and newly re-elected members of Parliament are getting acquainted with their offices and colleagues ahead of the opening of the House of Commons next week.
The first order of business for MPs is the selection of a new House Speaker on Monday morning, and at least six returning members are asking their colleagues to support their bid to take the chair.
That includes former Speaker Greg Fergus, a Liberal MP, who faced accusations of partisanship from the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois in the last Parliament that led to calls for his resignation.
Fergus was elected to the position in late 2023 after Anthony Rota was forced to resign due to a scandal that made international headlines.
Rota had invited a Second World War veteran to the House of Commons during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy without realizing the man fought for a Nazi division.
In a letter sent to MPs on May 16, Fergus acknowledged the challenge posed by those circumstances.
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“To be frank, it was a difficult time for anyone in that role,” he wrote.
“Partisanship was high; patience and traditional collaborative efforts were low. It was in this context that I learned the ropes of the job, often getting it right, and learning every time when I didn’t.”
Former deputy Speaker Chris d’Entremont and fellow Conservative MP Tom Kmiec have also sent letters to MPs asking for their support.
D’Entremont highlighted his experience during key debates, saying he made more procedural decisions than any other deputy Speaker in the past.
“The House of Commons needs an experienced Speaker now more than ever—someone who has proven their dedication to this institution, who understands the demands of the role, and who can ensure our work proceeds with respect, order and fairness,” he wrote.
He said Canadians expect “co-operation, civility, and results” from Parliament—a theme echoed by many of his colleagues.
The fall sitting of the last Parliament was particularly dysfunctional. The Conservatives used a privilege motion to stall debate for 48 of the 56 days, grinding nearly all government business to a halt. Opposition parties repeatedly threatened to topple the minority government and forced three non-confidence votes.
Fergus struggled to maintain order during question period, where members were frequently reprimanded for using unparliamentary language and heckling.
Kmiec pledged to enforce the ban on unparliamentary language.
“Speakers have repeatedly tried to enforce decorum by interrupting the debate or questions and chastising MPs for bringing disorder to the House. This has not worked,” he wrote.
“Decorum has not improved. It has brought the Speaker into sharp conflict with MPs instead of their role as facilitator.”
P.E.I. Liberal MP Sean Casey said he thinks there’s an opportunity for a positive reset.
“Decorum, civility, and respect for Parliament and the office of the Speaker have dramatically declined over the last decade at an accelerating pace. Only members can restore it, and it is for the Speaker to set the tone early, vigorously and consistently,” Casey wrote.
He added that a “collegial approach, cajoling repeat offenders, has proven ineffective” and pledged “the consistent application of progressive discipline.”
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who was first elected in 2008, said he is considering running, and wrote to colleagues that he would “very much welcome your thoughts.”
“Westminster tradition is clear: no one should really want this job!” he wrote. “It is with both a significant amount of humility, as well as confidence, that I imagine myself in the Speaker’s chair.”
Sherry Romanado, another Liberal MP, said as deputy government House leader she has navigated “complex parliamentary dynamics with fairness and a steady hand.”
“I will work tirelessly to uphold the integrity of the House, to maintain order, and to cultivate a proper environment for constructive debate—a space where members can engage in the important business of the nation with civility and purpose,” she wrote.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said she’s still mulling whether to run for a job she considers to be a “life’s dream.”
“I have a conflicted sense of duties: the idea of the duty to the Parliament, could I be a really good Speaker, and would it make a difference to Parliament?” she said in an interview.
“Or, does my duty lie with all the people across the country who want at least one Green voice in Parliament? And I would be immediately silencing myself as that one Green voice if I were to become Speaker.”
What she is sure of is that she wants reform in the role, which she said has “played second fiddle to backroom party whips” who decide which members ask questions in question period.
“It’s a monumental job, and to do it well is challenging,” she said.
“We can’t have our Parliament be as dysfunctional as it was right before Christmas ever again.”
The final list of people running for Speaker will be released on Sunday evening.
Members are considered to be in the running unless they ask to have their name withdrawn before 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday. It’s not uncommon for members to forget to withdraw their names.
When Parliament opens on Monday morning, the candidates will each have five minutes to address the House before MPs vote in a preferential secret ballot.
It’s possible that not all 343 members will be able to vote, however, because of the short time frame between the April 28 election and the May 26 return to Parliament.
Elected members can only be sworn in once the results from their ridings are officially reported and the writs returned by Elections Canada, and that process can take time. There have also been recounts in a number of close ridings.
Officials who gave a briefing to reporters this week said they had completed about half the swearing-in ceremonies, with more scheduled through the weekend. It has happened in the past, officials said, that a small number of members were not sworn in by the time Parliament resumed.
