House prepares to vote on new Speaker in rare mid-session election as MPs vie for job

OTTAWA — The House of Commons will vote for a new Speaker tomorrow in a rare mid-session election.

Steven Chaplin, a fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Public Law Centre, says this is only the second time in Canadian history that a Speaker didn’t complete their full term. 

Anthony Rota resigned from the position last week amid controversy after he invited parliamentarians, during a visit by Ukraine’s president, to applaud a veteran who served in a Nazi unit in the Second World War.

The longest-serving MP in the House, a Bloc Québécois representative, was put in as an interim Speaker — a move Chaplin says is a first in Canada’s history, but one that signals the House aims to rise above partisanship.