My Speech for the Position of Speaker of the House of Commons

ENGLISH (with translation):

BILINGUAL (floor version):

Thank you, Chair, and I would like to congratulate all of my colleagues here today.

It’s an honour and privilege to sit in this House, to represent our constituents’ interests and values, and to advance public policy.

I present myself to serve as your Speaker, with a singular focus on raising the tone of debate in this House, to a level that restores the trust that Canadians deserve to have in their politicians and democratic institutions.

I offer to facilitate a process by which each of us and our parties commit to a higher standard of conduct, that we monitor our progress, and make concrete procedural changes to support our goal.

During this past election campaign, many Victorians told me: “Parliament is supposed to work for the interests of Canadians, not the interests of the parties.”

In my five years here, I’ve tried to operate under that exact principle.

Of course, this is a partisan place. It is by design adversarial, for good reason.

But unlike high school debating teams, the idea of parliamentary debate is not to score points - it’s to make better public policy.

Each of us represents different perspectives, which our electors have judged deserve to be heard, and I daresay, incorporated into public policy so that government and Parliament truly work for all Canadians.

It is absolutely not the Speaker’s job to determine substantively how this is done.

But it can be the Speaker’s role to foster and maintain an environment in which this approach can succeed, if it truly is the will of all parties.

Imagine for a moment a Parliament that functions well.

Where debate is intelligent, informed, witty, and above all respectful.

Where our interaction leads to more inclusive public policy, and thus to a win-win for all Canadians.

This is not a utopic project I’m proposing. It is a necessary objective to reverse the cynicism that Canadians feel toward their politicians and democratic institutions.

So I stand today, fully committed to the Speaker’s chief duty to preserve order and decorum in the proceedings of this House.

I commit to protecting every member’s rights and privileges, and balancing those with our responsibility to serve Canadians’ best interests, according to the rules of Parliament.

A Speaker cannot do this alone. All members of this House must be are equally dedicated to these goals.

I thus ask for your support only if you are prepared to do your part to improve decorum – to work with me toward improving the way we conduct our debates, Question Period and all facets of our interaction.

I pledge as Speaker to be guided solely by the will of this House, and if that will is resolute in pursuit of a well-functioning Parliament, together we can restore Canadians’ faith in their Parliament.

Our outgoing Speaker recently said that federal politics have become more partisan and less democratic than when he first arrived as a rookie MP.

I hope one of the rookie MPs here now, retires as Speaker one day, and can say the exact opposite.

Let us say that the 41st Parliament was the turning point. Let that change begin today.