Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Incumbent Raj Chouhan since December 7, 2020
Style	The Honourable Mr/Madam/Honourable Speaker (In the House)
Appointer	Elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly
Term length	Elected at the start of each Parliament
Inaugural holder	James Trimble
Salary	$150,000 (2017)

The office of Speaker in British Columbia

The Speaker is elected by the Members of the Legislative Assembly ("MLAs") by means of a secret ballot at the commencement of a new parliament, or on the death or retirement of the previous Speaker. Cabinet Ministers are the only MLAs not entitled to stand for election as Speaker. The business of the Legislative Assembly cannot continue without a Speaker. Under British Columbia's parliamentary tradition, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia will not open Parliament until a Speaker is elected.

Prior practice had been for the Premier to select the Speaker and have that selection ratified by a vote of the legislative assembly. The Legislative Assembly also appoints a Deputy Speaker, who presides in the absence of the Speaker. During the 38th Parliament, which was elected in the BC general election held on May 17, 2005, the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker was created. This office is usually held by an MLA who represents the official opposition party.

Traditionally, the Speaker has been a member of the governing party, though Speaker Darryl Plecas was an exception from 2017-2020; however, while holding the office of Speaker that MLA must act neutrally and treat all other MLAs impartially, and to preserve this impartiality the Speaker follows Speaker Denison's rule in breaking ties. The Speaker presides over the debates and procedures of the Legislative Assembly. The Speaker enforces the Rules of Procedure, commonly referred to as the Standing Orders. Any disputes or procedural rulings are made according to the Standing Orders or, in absence of a rule governing a specific situation, to parliamentary precedence and convention. The Speaker does not vote, except in the case of a tie.

Until the early 1990s, the traditional form of address and reference to the Speaker was "Mr. Speaker". Today, the office holder is now referred to as simply the "Speaker", but during debates the MLAs may continue to address the office holder as "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". In accordance with parliamentary tradition, all speeches are addressed to the Speaker, and not the other MLAs.

The Speaker is responsible for the legislative precincts, including the Parliament Buildings. The Speaker also sponsors the British Columbia Legislative Internship Program. In addition to his or her duties as Speaker, the Speaker continues to represent the voters of his or her constituency as an Members of the Legislative Assembly. The channel televised proceedings is Hansard TV.

Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

	Speaker	Political affiliation	Term start	Term end	Notes
1	James Trimble	Independent	1872	1878
2	Frederick W. Williams	Independent	1878	1882
3	John Andrew Mara	Independent	1883	1886
4	Charles Edward Pooley	Independent	1887	1889
5	David Williams Higgins	Independent	1890	1898
6	John Paton Booth	Independent	1898
7	William Thomas Forster	Independent	1899	1900
6	John Paton Booth	Independent	1900	1902
4	Charles Edward Pooley	Independent	1902	1906
		Conservative			(From 1903)
8	David McEwen Eberts	Conservative	1907	1916
9	John Walter Weart	Liberal	1917	1918
10	John Keen	Liberal	1918	1920
11	Alexander Malcolm Manson	Liberal	1921	1922
12	Frederick Arthur Pauline	Liberal	1922	1924
13	John Andrew Buckham	Liberal	1924	1928
14	James William Jones	Conservative	1929	1930
15	Cyril Francis Davie	Conservative	1931	1933
16	Henry George Thomas Perry	Liberal	1934	1937
17	Norman William Whittaker	Liberal	1937	1947
		Lib/Con Coalition			(From 1941)
18	Robert Henry Carson	Lib/Con Coalition	1948	1949
19	John Hart	Lib/Con Coalition	1949
20	Nancy Hodges	Lib/Con Coalition	1950	1952
21	Thomas Irwin	Social Credit	1953	1957
22	Lorne Shantz	Social Credit	1958	1963
23	William Harvey Murray	Social Credit	1964	1972
24	Gordon Dowding	NDP	1972	1975
25	D. Edward Smith	Social Credit	1976	1978
26	Harvey Schroeder	Social Credit	1979	1982
27	Walter Davidson	Social Credit	1982	1986
28	John Douglas Reynolds	Social Credit	1987	1989
29	Stephen Rogers	Social Credit	1990	1991
30	Joan Sawicki	NDP	1992	1994
31	Emery Barnes	NDP	1994	1996
32	Dale Lovick	NDP	1996	1998
33	Gretchen Brewin	NDP	1998	2000
34	William James Hartley	NDP	2000	2001
35	Claude Richmond	Liberal	2001	2005
36	Bill Barisoff	Liberal	2005	2013
37	Linda Reid	Liberal	2013	2017
38	Steve Thomson	Liberal	2017		^[1]
39	Darryl Plecas	Liberal, then Independent	2017	2020	^[2]^[3]
40	Raj Chouhan	NDP	2020	Incumbent

See also

• Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada)

Notes

1. "Steve Thomson resigns as speaker of the B.C. legislature". The Georgia Straight. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
2. "BC Liberal goes against party wishes, acclaimed as Speaker of the House". www.citynews1130.com. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
3. "BC Liberals expel Darryl Plecas from party after Speaker move | CBC News".

References

• "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2011-07-20.

External links

• Welcome Message from The Speaker (from the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia website).