Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Honourable Mr/Madam/Honourable Speaker (In the House)
Appointer	Elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly
Term length	Elected at the start of each Parliament
Inaugural holder	James Trimble
Salary	$150,000 (2017)

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

The office of Speaker in British Columbia

The Speaker is elected by the Members of the Legislative Assembly ("MLAs") by means of a secret ballot at the commencement of a new parliament, or on the death or retirement of the previous Speaker. Cabinet Ministers are the only MLAs not entitled to stand for election as Speaker. The business of the Legislative Assembly cannot continue without a Speaker. Under British Columbia's parliamentary tradition, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia will not open Parliament until a Speaker is elected.

Prior practice had been for the

party.

Traditionally, the Speaker has been a member of the governing party, though Speaker

, commonly referred to as the Standing Orders. Any disputes or procedural rulings are made according to the Standing Orders or, in absence of a rule governing a specific situation, to parliamentary precedence and convention. The Speaker does not vote, except in the case of a tie.

Until the early 1990s, the traditional form of address and reference to the Speaker was "Mr. Speaker". Today, the office holder is now referred to as simply the "Speaker", but during debates the MLAs may continue to address the office holder as "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker". In accordance with parliamentary tradition, all speeches are addressed to the Speaker, and not the other MLAs.

The Speaker is responsible for the legislative precincts, including the

as a member of the Legislative Assembly.

The channel televised proceedings is Hansard TV.

Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

No.	Portrait	Name Electoral district (Birth–Death)	Term of office	Party		Parliament
1		James Trimble MLA for Victoria City (1817–1885)	1872–1878		Independent	1st
						2nd
2		Frederick W. Williams MLA for Esquimalt	1878–1882		Independent	3rd
3		John Andrew Mara MLA for Yale (1840–1920)	1883–1886		Independent	4th
4		Charles Edward Pooley MLA for Esquimalt (1845–1912)	1887–1889		Independent	5th
5		David Williams Higgins MLA for Esquimalt (1834–1917)	1890–1898		Independent
						6th
						7th
6		John Paton Booth MLA for North Victoria (1837–1902)	1898		Independent	8th
7		William Thomas Forster MLA for Westminster-Delta (1857–1938)	1899–1900		Independent
(6)		John Paton Booth MLA for North Victoria (1837–1902)	1900–1902		Independent	9th
(4)		Charles Edward Pooley MLA for Esquimalt (1845–1912)	1902–1906		Independent
					Conservative	10th
8		David McEwen Eberts MLA for Saanich (1850–1924)	1907–1916		Conservative	11th
						12th
						13th
9		John Walter Weart MLA for South Vancouver (1861–1941)	1917–1918		Liberal	14th
10		John Keen MLA for South Vancouver (1844–1922)	1918–1920		Liberal
11		Alexander Malcolm Manson MLA for Omineca (1883–1964)	1921–1922		Liberal	15th
12		Frederick Arthur Pauline MLA for Saanich (1861–1955)	1922–1924		Liberal
13		John Andrew Buckham MLA for Columbia (1873–1931)	1924–1928		Liberal	16th
14		James William Jones MLA for South Okanagan (1869–1954)	1929–1930		Conservative	17th
15		Cyril Francis Davie MLA for Cowichan-Newcastle (1882–1950)	1931–1933		Conservative
16		Henry George Thomas Perry MLA for Fort George (1889–1959)	1934–1937		Liberal	18th
17		Norman William Whittaker MLA for Saanich (1893–1985)	1937–1947		Liberal	19th
					Conservative coalition	20th
						21st
18		Robert Henry Carson MLA for Kamloops (1885–1971)	1948–1949		Conservative coalition
19		John Hart MLA for Victoria City (1879–1957)	1949		Conservative coalition
20		Nancy Hodges MLA for Victoria City (1888–1969)	1950–1952		Conservative coalition	22nd
21		Thomas Irwin MLA for Delta (1889–1962)	1953–1957		Social Credit	23rd
						24th
						25th
22		Lorne Shantz MLA for North Okanagan (1920–1999)	1958–1963		Social Credit
						26th
23		William Harvey Murray MLA for Prince Rupert (1916–1991)	1964–1972		Social Credit	27th
						28th
						29th
24		Gordon Dowding MLA for Burnaby (1918–2003)	1972–1975		NDP	30th
25		Ed Smith MLA for Peace River North (born 1928)	1976–1978		Social Credit	31st
26		Harvey Schroeder MLA for Chilliwack (born 1933)	1979–1982		Social Credit	32nd
27		Walter Davidson MLA for Delta (born 1937)	1982–1986		Social Credit
						33rd
28		John Reynolds MLA for West Vancouver-Howe Sound (born 1942)	1987–1989		Social Credit	34th
29		Stephen Rogers MLA for Vancouver South (born 1942)	1990–1991		Social Credit
30		Joan Sawicki MLA for Burnaby-Willingdon (born 1945)	1992–1994		New Democratic	35th
31		Emery Barnes MLA for Vancouver-Burrard (1929–1998)	1994–1996		New Democratic
32		Dale Lovick MLA for Nanaimo (born 1945)	1996–1998		New Democratic	36th
33		Gretchen Brewin MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill (born 1938)	1998–2000		New Democratic
34		William James Hartley MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows (born 1945)	2000–2001		New Democratic
35		Claude Richmond MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows (born 1935)	2001–2005		Liberal	37th
36		Penticton (from 2009) (born 1948 or 1949)	2005–2013		Liberal	38th
						39th
37		Linda Reid MLA for Richmond East (born 1959)	2013–2017		Liberal	40th
38		Steve Thomson[1] MLA for Kelowna-Mission (born 1951 or 1952)	2017		Liberal	41st
39		Darryl Plecas[2][3] MLA for Abbotsford South (born 1951)	2017–2020		Liberal
					Independent
40		Raj Chouhan MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds	2020–present		New Democratic	42nd

See also

• Speaker of the House of Commons (Canada)

Notes

References

• "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2011-07-20.

External links

• Welcome Message from The Speaker (from the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia website).