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 (until 1906)	1867	1896	1907
		Liberal (after 1906)
	John Haggart	Conservative	1872	1907	1913
	Sir Wilfrid Laurier	Liberal	1874	1913	1919
	John Reid	Conservative	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 (until 1942)	1911	1941	1946
		Independent (after 1942)
	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	Bloc Québécois	1984	2008	incumbent

Role in Electing the Speaker

Following a General election, or, the resignation or death of the sitting Speaker, the house meets to elect a new Speaker.^[3] This was started in 1986, however at the time, Speaker John Bosley presided. The first time the modern election system for speaker was used was in 1994.

During these elections, the Dean of the House takes the role of presiding officer. In 1994, following the 1993 election, Len Hopkins filled this role as Herb Gray, the longest serving member, was in Cabinet.^[4]

References

1. Election of the Speaker of the House. House of Commons. Canada. March 2006. Last accessed July 1, 2009.
2. Campion-Smith, Bruce (May 16, 2007). "Veteran MP set to retire". The Toronto Star.
3. Election of the Speaker of the House. House of Commons. Canada. March 2006. Last accessed May 17, 2015.
4. "Hansard", or Publications of the House of Commons, January 17, 1994, Debates (No. 1). Last accessed May 17, 2015.