Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously serving member, while in others it refers to the oldest member. Recently, the title Mother of the House or Mother of Parliament has also been used, although the usage varies among countries; it is either the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman, or refers to the oldest or longest-serving woman without reference to male members.
The speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. A member of Parliament (MP), they are elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in presiding over Canada's House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the Westminster system.
The leader of the Official Opposition, formally known as the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in Canada, typically the leader of the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party or part of the governing coalition.
Mauril Adrien Jules Bélanger was a Canadian politician.
Herbert Eser Gray was a Canadian lawyer who became a prominent federal politician. He was a Liberal member of parliament for the Windsor area over the course of four decades, from 1962 to 2002, making Gray one of the longest-serving members in Canadian history. He was a cabinet minister under three prime ministers and was the seventh deputy prime minister from 1997 to 2002. Gray was Canada's first Jewish federal cabinet minister, and he is one of the few Canadians granted the honorific The Right Honourable who was not so entitled by virtue of a position held.
Geoffrey Paul Regan is a former Canadian politician who served as the 36th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax West 2000 to 2021, previously holding the seat from 1993 to 1997. Under Paul Martin, he was Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from 2003 to 2006.
Peter Andrew Stewart Milliken is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until his retirement in 2011 and served as Speaker of the House for 10 years beginning in 2001. Milliken represented the Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands as a member of the Liberal Party. On October 12, 2009, he became the longest serving Speaker of the House of Commons in Canadian history. His Speakership was notable for the number of tie-breaking votes he was required to make as well as for making several historic rulings. Milliken also has the unique distinction of being the first Speaker to preside over four Parliaments. His legacy includes his landmark rulings on Parliament's right to information, which are key elements of parliamentary precedent both in Canada and throughout the Commonwealth.
Lawrence A. MacAulay is a Canadian politician, who has represented the riding of Cardigan, Prince Edward Island in the House of Commons since 1988.
John Douglas Reynolds is a former Canadian politician. He was the member of Parliament for the riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2006 and a former Federal Opposition Leader. He had also been an MP in the 1970s as well as a provincial politician in British Columbia in the 1980s and 1990s.
The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3, 2006 until September 7, 2008. The membership was set by the 2006 federal election on January 23, 2006, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections. The Parliament was dissolved on September 7, 2008, with an election to determine the membership of the 40th Parliament occurring on October 14, 2008.
Anthony Michael Gerard Rota is a Canadian politician who served as the 37th speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2019 until his resignation in 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, he currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. He previously represented Nipissing—Timiskaming as MP from 2004 to 2011. In 2019, he was elected by the House of Commons to be the speaker in the 43rd Parliament and in 2021 was re-elected in the 44th Parliament.
Louis Plamondon is a Canadian politician who served as the interim speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from September 27 to October 3, 2023. A member of the Bloc Québécois, he has represented Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel since 1984. As the longest-serving current member of the House of Commons, Plamondon is Dean of the House, and holds the record as Canada's longest-serving dean.
The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The 1990 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was held on 23 June 1990 at the Olympic Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. The party chose former Deputy Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as its new leader, replacing the outgoing leader, former Prime Minister John Turner.
John Nater is a Canadian politician. He is currently serving as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Perth Wellington in the House of Commons of Canada.
William Amos is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Pontiac, Quebec from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he was first elected in the 2015 federal election and was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. In December 2019, Amos was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
The 43rd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 5, 2019, to August 15, 2021, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2019 federal election held on October 21, 2019. Parliament officially resumed on December 5, 2019, with the election of a new Speaker, Anthony Rota, followed by a speech from the throne the following day. On August 15, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau advised Governor General Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament and issue the writ of election, leading to a 5-week election campaign period for the 2021 federal election.
The 45th Canadian federal election will take place on or before October 20, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. The date of the vote is determined by the fixed-date provisions of the Canada Elections Act, which requires federal elections to be held on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the polling day of the previous election, though a current government bill proposes to postpone the date to October 27, 2025 to avoid conflicting with Diwali. In addition to the statutory fixed election date provisions, Canada has a constitutional requirement specified in both section 50 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that elections for the House of Commons must be held no more than five years after the preceding election.
The 44th Canadian Parliament is the session of the Parliament of Canada which began on 22 November 2021, with the membership of the House of Commons, having been determined by the results of the 2021 federal election held on 20 September. Parliament officially resumed on 22 November with the re-election of Speaker Anthony Rota, and the Speech from the Throne read by Governor General Mary Simon the following day.
The 2023 election for Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada took place on October 3, 2023, to elect the 38th speaker of the House of Commons, following the resignation of Speaker Anthony Rota. This was held during the 44th Canadian Parliament.
