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e-1358 (Parliament of Canada)
E-petition
Initiated by Darren Francis from Victoria, British Columbia
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the House of Commons
Whereas:
- In Canada it is the Speaker's responsibility to manage the House of Commons and supervise its staff;
- It is also the Speaker's duty to act as a liaison with the Senate and the Crown;
- The Speaker is to rule over the House, have the government answer questions during Question Period, as well as keep decorum;
- While the Constitution requires that the Speaker be elected by the House of Commons, traditionally this amounted to the rubber-stamp approval of a Member nominated by the Prime Minister;
- The Speaker is required to perform his or her office impartially, but does not resign from his or her party membership upon taking office, as is done in the United Kingdom.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to:
1. Require the Speaker to resign his or her party membership to ensure impartiality as the arbiter of the House of Commons;
2. Create a special order to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to study:
a) the effectiveness of the appointment process of the Speaker;
b) empowering the Speaker with more authority to hold Members of Parliament accountable during Question Period;
c) empowering the Speaker with more authority to keep decorum in the House of Commons;
d) areas of the Committee own initiative that empower the Speaker to rule over the House more effectively;
3. Recognize the importance of modernizing the authority and neutrality of the Speaker to ensure a more open, accountable and transparent government.
- Open for signature
- December 19, 2017, at 11:37 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- April 18, 2018, at 11:37 a.m. (EDT)
