Office of the Speaker

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is an MLA elected by a secret ballot procedure at the beginning of every new General Assembly. All Members, except the Premier, Members of Executive Council, Leader of the Opposition and leaders of political parties in the House are eligible for election as Speaker. The Speaker, once elected by secret ballot has received the confidence of the majority of Members in the House and must preside over the debates and make sure the House follows established rules of procedure and behaviour. The Speaker's first duty is to claim on behalf of all Members, the "ancient and accustomed parliamentary rights and privileges", the most important of which is freedom of speech in debate. It then becomes the Speaker's heavy responsibility to uphold the individual and collective privileges of the Members and of the House.

The Office of Speaker has a long and colourful history. An appreciation of the historic role of Speaker helps one to understand the modern role of Speaker. In the book "The Office of Speaker in the Parliaments of the Commonwealth", Philip Laundy states;

"The Office of Speaker is almost as old as Parliament itself. The first Speaker to be so designated was appointed in 1377...the principal function of early Speakers was to communicate the resolutions of the Commons to the King..., and it may be presumed that some kind of intermediary between Parliament and the King came into existence when the English Parliament first assumed its rudimentary form."

Today on Prince Edward Island the Speaker's role is ever evolving but there are some fundamental responsibilities of the office that are of paramount importance. The Speaker must conduct the business of the Office in a non-partisan manner and is responsible for ensuring that all MLAs are treated fairly and impartially. Balancing the right of the majority to conduct business with the right of the minority to be heard is one of the Speaker's most difficult tasks. Given the often adversarial nature of parliamentary business on the floor of the House - with a majority Government and a minority Opposition - the role of the Speaker is often referred to as being similar to that of a referee!

Further, the Speaker serves as Chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Management, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Audit and as President of the Prince Edward Island Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and, as such, represents the Legislative Assembly as regional, national and international meetings of CPA. The Speaker is also responsible for the operation of the various activities of the Legislative Assembly when the House is not in session such as the provision of security and the co- management of Province House with Parks Canada.