Dean of the House (Canada)
In Canada, the Dean of the House is the Member of the House of Commons with the longest unbroken record of service who is not a Cabinet Minister, party Leader, House Leader or Whip.[1] The Dean is responsible for presiding over the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons at the beginning of each Parliament. The position is the equivalent of the Father of the House in the British House of Commons.
The current Dean of the House is Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon, who was first elected to the Commons as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1984.[2]
List of Deans
Member | Party | Entered House | Became Dean | Left House | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Costigan | Liberal-Conservative | 1867 | 1896 | 1907 | |
Liberal | |||||
John Haggart | Conservative Party | 1872 | 1907 | 1913 | |
Sir Wilfrid Laurier | Liberal | 1877 | 1913 | 1919 | |
John Reid | Conservative Party | 1891 | 1919 | 1921 | |
William MacLean | Unionist | 1892 | 1921 | 1926 | |
Rodolphe Lemieux | Liberal | 1896 | 1926 | 1930 | |
Charles Marcil | Liberal | 1900 | 1930 | 1937 | |
Ernest Lapointe | Liberal | 1904 | 1937 | 1941 | |
Arthur Cardin | Liberal | 1911 | 1941 | 1946 | |
Independent | |||||
Charles Power | Liberal | 1917 | 1946 | 1955 | |
William Rowe | Progressive Conservative | 1925 | 1955 | 1963 | |
Azellus Denis | Liberal | 1935 | 1963 | 1964 | |
Paul Martin Sr. | Liberal | 1935 | 1964 | 1968 | |
John Diefenbaker | Progressive Conservative | 1940 | 1968 | 1979 | |
Walter Dinsdale | Progressive Conservative | 1951 | 1979 | 1982 | |
Robert Coates | Progressive Conservative | 1957 | 1982 | 1988 | |
Herb Gray | Liberal | 1962 | 1988 | 2002 | |
Charles Caccia | Liberal | 1968 | 2002 | 2004 | |
Bill Blaikie | New Democrat | 1979 | 2004 | 2008 | |
Louis Plamondon | Progressive Conservative | 1984 | 2008 | incumbent | |
Bloc Québécois | |||||
References
- ↑ Election of the Speaker of the House. House of Commons. Canada. March 2006. Last accessed July 1, 2009.
- ↑ Campion-Smith, Bruce (May 16, 2007). "Veteran MP set to retire". The Toronto Star.