The most interesting place to be this week may be behind the heavy wooden door and in the red-carpeted office of the clerk of the house in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ legislature.
After weeks of recounts, the success of David Eby’s NDP government now hangs, in part, on a secret ballot — expected around mid-November — to select the Speaker of the house.
Every MLA’s name is on a list in the clerk’s office. Any member who doesn’t wish to be considered — there are good reasons not to want the job — must present the clerk with written notice asking to be removed, no later than 6 p.m. on the eve of the ballot.
It’s safe to assume that Eby has been trying to lure someone from outside his party to become Speaker. Although he will direct his party members on who to vote for, Eby doesn’t get the privilege of appointing the Speaker.
While some MLAs, like Conservative Ian Paton, have publicly declared that they’re not interested, only the clerk knows who is — and isn’t — on the list.
On the day of the vote, the clerk posts candidates’ names in the lobby, and the ballots are deposited in a box at the clerk’s table in the house.
It’s not quite as dramatic as a papal election — there is no white smoke from the burning of the ballot papers to signal success — but the process is weighted with formality and ritual, despite the fact that, until 1994, the position of Speaker was by appointment of the premier.
Joan Sawicki was a rookie NDP MLA when, in 1992, she was appointed Speaker by then-premier Mike Harcourt.
While there has been “chatter” about the idea of a rookie MLA becoming speaker this month, Sawicki said, “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
“If you’re a rookie, you’ve never sat in a caucus, you don’t know what a caucus is like, you don’t know what’s going on in the dining room as members get to know each other, you can’t make subtle judgments on when to intervene or not in the house.”
Sawicki said Eby is in a difficult position, given his small majority. “He might prefer one of his own party but that leaves him with fewer voting members. If he could persuade an Opposition member, it gives him a little more leeway.”
Whoever it is, she hopes they come with experience, since it will make the job a little easier.
While it’s an honour to be elected Speaker — and the job comes with a $59,766.37 salary bump — it can be a thankless and isolating position that requires renouncing party allegiances.
When in 2017, BC Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas was acclaimed as Speaker in John Horgan’s NDP government, he was expelled from the party and forced to serve as an Independent, essentially ending his political career.
“The Speaker needs to have the trust and confidence of both sides of the house, and be neutral and balanced. Both sides of the house will always feel your interventions are favouring the other side,” said Sawicki. “It is a very fine line a Speaker must walk in their dual roles as both referee and servant of the house.”
If a member uses un-parliamentary language, or a dust-up diminishes the collegial tone of the house, the Speaker may intervene.
“If you are too tight with your interventions, or too loose, if you don’t judge well or they feel that the Speaker is unduly intervening, you lose the goodwill of the house,” said Sawicki.
The Speaker must learn and administer the standing orders of the house. Sawicki had to “hit the books” when she was appointed, and said starting as a rookie was “gruelling and extremely difficult.”
The Speaker’s office and dining quarters are also separate from their colleagues. Yet it’s outside the house, in hallways and dining rooms and the caucus, where friendships are made and alliances are forged.
“It’s very isolating,” said Sawicki, who dined alone every day off a set of antique china etched in gold with her new title: Mr. Speaker.
A Speaker relies on the clerks for research to make measured, precedent-based decisions, but their only support system for advice is other Speakers across ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.
Missteps can get Speakers into hot water, as in 2023, when House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus praised the outgoing interim leader of the Ontario Liberal party in a video tribute that was seen as partisan.
The Speaker oversees a large staff and administers the managerial budget of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ legislature.
In a 2018 report, Plecas accused Craig James, the clerk of the house, and Gary Lenz, the sergeant-at-arms, of lavish overspending in a scandal that included allegations of self-awarded pensions, pricey suits and a $3,000 wood-splitter. James was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust, while Lenz wasn’t criminally charged.
But the Speaker’s most important role is maintaining the status quo or the continued running of government.
With such a tight majority, the chances of the Speaker having to break ties is “pretty high,” said Sawicki.
“On a tie vote, every Speaker would have to rely on the clerks to go through the procedures and precedences to determine the decision the Speaker must take. It would never be a partisan decision.”
Sawicki, who was replaced as Speaker in 1994 by NDP MLA Emery Barnes, calls it an “incredible privilege” to serve in the role.
She has this advice in the event that a rookie is elected: “Try to be fair and neutral, understand your standing orders and trust the advice of the clerks.”
