Speaker of the Canadian Senate

Speaker of the Canadian Senate
Incumbent Noël Kinsella since 8 February 2006
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor general, on behalf of the monarch, and on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
Inaugural holder	Joseph Cauchon

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The Speaker of the Senate of Canada (French: Président du Sénat du Canada) is the presiding officer of the Senate of Canada. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and oversee debates and voting in the red chamber. This position is often misunderstood as being equivalent to that in the House of Commons, but it is not. The current speaker is the Honourable Noël Kinsella, a Conservative Senator representing the province of New Brunswick.

Contents 1 Appointment and precedence 2 History of the speakership 3 Role of the speakership 4 List of Speakers of the Senate 5 External links

Appointment and precedence

The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the governor general, on behalf of the monarch, and on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. By convention, however, this advice is generally expressed exclusively by the prime minister.

The Speaker of the Senate takes precedence only after the queen, the governor general, other members of the royal family, former governors general and their spouses, the prime minister, former prime ministers, and the chief justice on the order of precedence and, therefore, is qualified to represent Canada at official state functions, both in Canada and abroad.

History of the speakership

The role of the Speaker in the Senate was originally based on that of the Lord Chancellor in the United Kingdom. In keeping with the role of the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the Senate was expected to be partisan; they would, at all times, have the right to leave the chair, to participate in debates, and to hold an original vote—unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons, who has a vote only in the event of a tie.

The Speaker of the Senate was also similar to the Lord Chancellor, in being considered equal to other senators. Decisions of the chair were not binding on the Senate unless the speaker's decision was also the pleasure of a majority of senators. Also similar to the practice of the Lords was that the speaker would not intervene unless another senator brought the matter to the attention of the speaker. Decisions from the chair remain subject to appeals from the Senate.

Canada has more recently departed with the traditions of the House of Lords, notably since 1991, when new rules for the Senate were adopted. The new standing orders made it clear that the Speaker of the Senate could intervene without being called to do so by the Senate. The new guidelines move the Senate further from the self-governing practices of the House of Lords, and more toward the chair-governed customs of the House of Commons.

The position was predecessed by the Speaker of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada.

Role of the speakership

The Speaker of the Senate is historically responsible for deciding on points of order, only once risen by another senator. However, with the 1991 amendments to the standing orders and guidelines that govern the Senate of Canada, the speakership has generally begun to assert its right to intervene, where appropriate, without being prompted to do so. Therefore the speaker is, broadly speaking, responsible for the maintenance of order and decorum in the Senate.

As a high-ranking individual on the order of precedence, the Speaker of the Senate often receives heads of state and heads of government — this role is not merely ceremonial; the speaker is a real delegate and representative of Canada abroad. They are expected to represent Canada internationally, and sometimes visit other nations on behalf of the Government of Canada.

While the speaker is an officer of the Senate, they also remain a representative of the province from which they were appointed. Unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Speaker has the right to participate in debates on behalf of the citizens of their province or territory. The speaker has the right to cast an original vote, and to simultaneously preside over the voting process (rather than the speaker delivering a casting vote in the event of an equality, the question before the House is deemed to have been rejected).

Another significant difference between the two speakers is that the Speaker of the House of Commons holds a management role within the administration of the House of Commons as Chair of the Board of Internal Economy. The Speaker of the Senate holds no similar role, and the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration is chaired by another Senator.

In the absence of the Speaker in the Chamber, his duties are carried by the speaker pro tempore, a senator appointed at the beginning of each session by the Senate. Should both chair officers be absent, any senator can be called upon to take the chair. Irrespective of who is in the chair, their decisions hold the same force as that of the speaker.

List of Speakers of the Senate

Speaker	Tenure	Party
The Hon. Joseph Cauchon	November 5, 1867 – May 16, 1869	Independent Conservative
The Hon. John Ross	May 17, 1869 – May 26, 1869	Conservative
The Hon. Joseph Cauchon	May 27, 1869 – June 2, 1872	Independent Conservative
The Hon. Amos Botsford	June 3, 1872 – June 5, 1872	Conservative
The Hon. Joseph Cauchon	June 6, 1872 – June 30, 1872	Independent Conservative
The Hon. Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau	February 21, 1872 – January 8, 1874	Conservative
The Hon. David Christie	January 9, 1874 – October 16, 1878	Liberal
The Hon. Robert Wilmot	November 7, 1878 – February 10, 1880	Conservative
The Hon. Sir David Macpherson	February 11, 1880 – February 15, 1880	Conservative
The Hon. Amos Botsford	February 16, 1880 – April 18, 1880	Conservative
The Hon. Sir David Macpherson	April 19, 1880 – October 16, 1883	Conservative
The Hon. William Miller	October 17, 1883 – April 3, 1887	Liberal-Conservative
The Hon. Josiah Plumb	April 4, 1887 – March 12, 1888	Conservative
The Hon. George Allan	March 17, 1888 – April 26, 1891	Conservative
The Hon. Sir Alexandre Lacoste	April 27, 1891 – September 13, 1891	Conservative
The Hon. John Jones Ross	September 14, 1891 – July 12, 1896	Conservative
The Hon. Sir Charles Pelletier	July 13, 1896 – January 28, 1901	Liberal
The Hon. Lawrence Power	January 29, 1901 – January 8, 1905	Liberal
The Hon. Raoul Dandurand	January 9, 1905 – January 13, 1909	Liberal
The Hon. James Kerr	January 14, 1909 – October 22, 1911	Liberal
The Hon. Auguste Landry	October 23, 1911 – June 2, 1916	Conservative
The Hon. Joseph Bolduc	June 3, 1916 – February 6, 1922	Nationalist Conservative
The Hon. Hewitt Bostock	February 7, 1922 – May 12, 1930	Liberal
The Hon. Arthur Hardy	May 13, 1930 – September 2, 1930	Liberal
The Hon. Pierre Blondin	September 3, 1930 – January 10, 1936	Conservative
The Hon. Walter Foster	January 11, 1936 – May 8, 1940	Liberal
The Hon. Georges Parent	May 9, 1940 – December 14, 1942	Liberal
The Hon. Thomas Vien	January 23, 1943 – August 23, 1945	Liberal
The Hon. James King	August 24, 1945 – August 2, 1949	Liberal
The Hon. Elie Beauregard	August 3, 1949 – October 13, 1953	Liberal
The Hon. Wishart Robertson	October 14, 1953 – October 3, 1957	Liberal
The Hon. Mark Drouin	October 4, 1957 – September 23, 1962	Progressive Conservative
The Hon. George White	September 24, 1962 – April 26, 1963	Progressive Conservative
The Hon. Maurice Bourget	April 27, 1963 – January 6, 1966	Liberal
The Hon. Sydney Smith	January 7, 1966 – September 4, 1968	Liberal
The Hon. Jean-Paul Deschatelets	September 5, 1968 – December 13, 1972	Liberal
The Hon. Muriel Fergusson	December 14, 1972 – September 11, 1974	Liberal
The Hon. Renaude Lapointe	September 12, 1974 – October 4, 1979	Liberal
The Hon. Allister Grosart	October 5, 1979 – March 3, 1980	Progressive Conservative
The Hon. Jean Marchand	March 4, 1980 – December 15, 1983	Liberal
The Hon. Maurice Riel	December 16, 1983 – November 1, 1984	Liberal
The Hon. Guy Charbonneau	November 2, 1984 – December 6, 1993	Progressive Conservative
The Rt. Hon. Roméo LeBlanc	December 7, 1993 – November 21, 1994	Liberal
The Hon. Gildas Molgat	November 22, 1994 – January 25, 2001	Liberal
The Hon. Daniel Hays	January 26, 2001 – February 7, 2006	Liberal
The Hon. Noël Kinsella	February 8, 2006 – Present	Conservative

External links

• Speakers of the Senate — Official site, maintained by the Government of Canada.

v · d · e  Speakers of the Senate of Canada Cauchon · J. Ross · Cauchon · Botsford · Cauchon · Chauveau · Christie · Wilmot · Macpherson · Botsford · Macpherson · Miller · Plumb · Allan · Lacoste · J. J. Ross · Pelletier · Power · Dandurand · Kerr · Landry · Bolduc · Bostock · Hardy · Blondin · Foster · Parent · Vien · King · Beauregard · Robertson · Drouin · White · Bourget · Smith · Deschatelets · Fergusson · Lapointe · Grosart · Marchand · Riel · Charbonneau · LeBlanc · Molgat · Hays · Kinsella