Conservative MP Andrew Scheer agreed to step out of partisan politics to preside over the highly partisan Commons when he won election June 2 as House of Commons speaker.
However, he insists that does not mean his constituents do not have a political voice on Parliament Hill.
It is just behind the scenes.
“In terms of representing my constituents, my office in Regina-Qu’Appelle is still open and staffed and if constituents have an issue with AgriStability, EI (employment insurance) or whatever, my impartiality in the chamber does not mean that I am not a representative of the people who elected me,” Scheer said during an interview in his ornate Parliament Hill office.
Read Also
Agritechnica Day 3: Hybrid drive for a combine, data standards keep up to tech change and tractors of the year
Agritechnica 2025 Day 3: Hybrid drive for a combine, data standards keep up to tech change and tractors of the year.
“I talked to (former) speaker (Peter) Millikan about how he handled it and he said it is perfectly acceptable to bring matters before ministers, but not in a partisan way, not through speeches in the House.”
In fact, he said with a laugh, his position as arbiter of the Commons may well give him better access to ministers.
“It certainly gives you a certain position when it comes to wanting to get a minister’s attention,” he said.
“Being speaker certainly doesn’t impact my ability to have access. I make sure my constituents still have access to all the programs that are available. I am very cognizant that first and foremost, I am here to represent them.”
Being speaker in the British parliamentary tradition is a balancing act.
Speakers have their base in a political party and were sent to Parliament as political partisans, but are then expected to preside over debates without favouring their partisan tribe.
Opposition MPs are always on watch for signs of partisanship. In the 1950s, Liberal speaker Louis-René Beaudoin saw his reputation tarnished and his political career destroyed by Progressive Conservative accusations of partisanship in a ruling during the raucous Pipeline Debate in 1956.
Scheer said he recognizes the balancing act, following the tradition of not attending his party’s weekly political caucus and avoiding any public hint of partisanship.
In a ruling before Parliament rose for a six-week break in December, he chastised Conservative government MPs for their decision to applaud for almost five straight minutes Nov. 28 as votes were counted on legislation to end the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly.
“It was trying to spell out to the House some of the things I had observed and kind of laying down a bit of a marker on things I didn’t want to see, particularly the sustained applause throughout the vote,” he said. “That’s doesn’t seem to be helping the House much.”
While the ruling was applauded, opposition MPs later complained about a separate ruling dismissing a Liberal grievance, arguing that Scheer might have had a conflict of interest.
It goes with the job, but Scheer said he works hard to keep both sides of the House satisfied that he is being fair.
“I would never want to put myself in a position where any member of any party would lose confidence in me as partisan,” he said.
He won the job on a promise to try to return civility and order to an increasingly acrimonious Commons, and Scheer, a self-confessed chronic heckler when he was first elected in 2004, said he is making progress.
“I don’t want to measure the House of Commons against perfection, but when I measure it against when I first got here, there is a marked improvement,” he said. “It requires the co-operation of all 308 members to get it done and I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Scheer’s election as Canada’s 35th Commons speaker set several precedents. He was the first sitting Saskatchewan MP in 144 years of Canadian history to be chosen for the prestigious job.
And having just turned 32, Scheer was the youngest speaker in Canadian history and second youngest in the British Commonwealth.
The job comes with considerable perks — a $233,247 salary, a small Parliament Hill apartment and an historic residence on the Mackenzie King estate in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa in western Quebec.
It also comes with significant responsibilities beyond refereeing Commons debates.
He oversees a parliamentary budget of more than $400 million, a large parliamentary staff and a multibillion-dollar Parliament Hill renovation project that will eventually see the Commons temporarily displaced from its present site for the first time in more than 90 years.
Scheer also juggles his obligation to get back to Regina to meet constituents and the fact that wife Jillian and their four young children still divide their time between Regina and Ottawa. Family arrangements will become more complicated when the kids reach school age.
