Earlier this week, the members of the House of Commons elected a new speaker. Greg Fergus was tapped for the role after Anthony Rota stepped down.
“It’s a process that has to be followed,” explained Souris Moose Mountain MP Dr. Robert Kitchen. Without a speaker, the House can’t sit.” The vote required all members in attendance, as the vote is done through a ranked ballot. Fergus was elected on the first ballot.
One of the images surrounding the election of the new speaker was that of Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, smiling while dragging Fergus, who was also smiling, to the Speaker’s Chair. Kitchen explained this is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years.
“The speaker would be making rulings, but would then have to go back to the king to basically justify what was done in the house,” Kitchen said. “And oftentimes historically, I can’t remember exactly how many times, but the speaker ended up getting beheaded, or whatever it may be at that time.”
This resulted in those who were nominated to be the speaker taking on the role reluctantly, and having to be dragged to the position.
While the threat of being jailed or executed for upsetting the king may be gone, the tradition of the leader of the opposition and the leader of the government dragging the speaker to the chair lives on.
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