MPPs electing new speaker by secret ballot Wednesday

Thestar.com
July 10, 2018
Robert Benzie

The Ontario Legislative Assembly is getting a new referee.

MPPs from all four political parties will elect a new speaker by secret ballot on Wednesday.

Five PC MPPs including Randy Hillier have expressed interest in the speaker post that includes a $152,914 salary, a $36,364 boost in members’ base pay.

So far, four Progressive Conservative MPPs are vying for the influential position, which comes with a $152,914 salary -- a $36,364 boost in members’ base pay -- and a stately apartment in the legislature.

MPP Ted Arnott (Wellington-Halton Hills), a 28-year veteran at Queen’s Park, has told his colleagues that he brings the experience of being a former deputy speaker, a government member, an opposition member, and a third-party member.

“I have ‘seen it from all sides.’ I have sought to be fair and impartial and demonstrate appropriate respect for all members while seeking to maintain decorum in the chamber,” Arnott said in his pitch to MPPs to be their new moderator of debate.

“While the speaker can still be an effective advocate for his or her constituency, the speaker must relinquish partisanship, and withdraw from caucus and party, in order to demonstrate absolute neutrality,” he noted.

“The election of speaker is done by secret ballot to ensure that each member has the opportunity to mark the choice without interference,” Hillier, who was first elected in 2007, told MPPs.

“It is the only vote you will ever exercise in the legislature that is secret; all other votes are public and recorded. This nuance ought not to be overlooked as it signifies the importance for all members to select a speaker who they feel will best safeguard the rights and privileges of all members, and who will act as an impartial arbiter during times of procedural disagreements.”

Burlington MPP Jane McKenna, who has returned to Queen’s Park after a four-year hiatus, would like to make history as the first woman to become speaker.

McKenna, elected in 2011 then defeated in 2014 before returning after the June 7 vote, said she’s seen the highs and the lows of politics.

“I remember how I felt the first time I entered the legislature after being elected in 2011, and I remember how I felt when leaving in 2014,” she told MPPs.

“Both were humbling experiences that reinforced my respect for this democratic institution, towards which we all have a special obligation. For me, the legislature is a daily reminder of the awesome responsibility that each of us have been entrusted with.”

MPP Rick Nicholls (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), who was first elected in 2011, has been touting his experience as a deputy speaker and as a long-time referee and umpire.

“I know what it means to enforce the rules of debate impartiality, to avoid favouritism, to censure respectfully, and to allow the procedures of the House to run smoothly,” Nicholls told MPPs

“I have a strong sense of fair play developed over many years as an official in provincial basketball, hockey and baseball (both fastball and slo-pitch),” he said.

Along with a spacious apartment on the third floor of the legislature, the speaker’s job comes with immortality in the form of a large official portrait than will hang on the building’s first floor.

The new speaker will succeed Dave Levac, a Liberal MPP who did not seek re-election this spring. Levac was the longest serving speaker in Ontario history with almost seven years on the job.

There are 76 Conservatives, 40 New Democrats, seven Liberals, and one Green eligible to vote.