Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

'S Wonderful, 'S Mervelous … (Guess who's running for Speaker!)

by kadyomalley on Thursday, November 6, 2008 1:08pm - 17 Comments

Let the …. uh, illustration of desire begin:

From: Tweed, Merv – M.P.
Sent: November 6, 2008 1:00 PM
To: Tweed, Merv – M.P.
Subject: Speaker of the House of Commons/Président de la Chambre des communes

Dear Colleague,

I write to you today to illustrate my desire to run for Speaker of the House of Commons.

I fully believe that my past experience at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government has prepared me for the challenges, responsibilities, and demands associated with this position. Having served as the provincial Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and federally as the Chair of the Standing Committee of Transport, I have continuously been faced with the honourable task of being fair, neutral, and open to debate. I assure you that I will bring the same characteristics to the role of Speaker.

The House of Commons is a place of dignity and respect and deserves stability and order. It is my view that over the last several years the level of debate and decorum in our great institution has suffered. Should I be entrusted with the role as Speaker of the House of Commons, rest assure I will strive to ensure that all Members of Parliament demonstrate equality and integrity, while respecting the traditions and raising the level of debate in the House of Commons.

It would be a privilege to work with you in this capacity. Should you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to call my Parliamentary office.

On November 18th, I would sincerely appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Merv Tweed, MP
Brandon-Souris

Your move, Andrew Scheer et al.

Tags: Merv Tweed, race for kingsmere, speaker up!

More by kadyomalley

Aaron Wherry

It’s completely unconstitutional and vaguely undemocratic, but when Bill Blaikie announced his retirement, he should have been promoted to speaker and given the job for life.
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Agreed. Surely that can be done through Standing Orders with all party consent – is it too late?
Geiseric the Lame

he didn’t really just send it to himself, did he?

not sure what that illustrates.
Jack Mitchell

“I write to you today to illustrate my desire to run for Speaker of the House of Commons.”

Indeed!
Sophie

Maybe he meant express…
I don’t think it’s too late until parliament opens again.
Geiseric the Lame

a streetcar named intent?
Wayne

I am afraid that Merv displays an utter lack of experience for the position and quite obviously has never studied the history nor the purpose of our most noble institution as can be confirmed by his statment : The House of Commons is a place of dignity and respect and deserves stability and order. -> since when? My God what if he got the job. No more ‘ what did the PM know and when did he know whatever it was he did or did not know ‘ questions constantly being asked irregardless of the business at hand or any answer given. This idea is dangerous and down right undemocratic!
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

I’m not quite sure how he intends to “ensure that all Members of Parliament demonstrate equality”. Isn’t demonstrating support for equality the Speaker’s job?
Geiseric the Lame

Getting ANYBODY to demonstrate equality would solve more than one age-old riddle. Maybe we should give him a shot.

Either that or get the guy a secretary.

His outbox must be hoot.
Geiseric the Lame

be a hoot

good thing I love irony.
Peter

Maybe that spawn of an incubus, Pierre Poilievre will be the next speaker of the house.
Geiseric the Lame

no way

Peter Van Loan

Its not like there’s any heavy lifting in the works so we may as well get good value for our entertainment dollar.
D.M.

Hey Peter,when did you start channeling my nightmares?

Personally,I would like to see a Scott Reid verses Peter Milliken showdown but..Merv Tweed?Correct me if I’m wrong,but isn’t a person with little to no procedural experience outside his committee,in one of the most powerful positions in the House may be slightly…Dangerous?
Bonnie N

Well

Merv Tweed has distinguished himself as an MP -er, so much this political junkie had to look up his bio.

Is there a written test at least? OMG at least Andrew knows the rules.
MC

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Merv and he’s a kind and very fair person. Though he doesn’t have the procedural background, this is something that can be learned and he’d certainly have a great group of clerks to get him over the learning curve. If you’re going to have a Conservative as speaker, this is one of your best options.
Jack Mitchell

I was always told that Jeanne Sauvé had been given the GG job as her reward for cleaning up the House as Speaker (in . . . 1980?), and that she’d done a good job of it. What techniques did she employ? By your description, MC, Mr. Tweed sounds a bit too nice for the job. We need a dictator! A censor! The draconian touch!
Dennis Prouse

Jack – the work done by Madame Sauve to “clean up” the place was largely in the administration of Parliament Hill itself. Put simply, the place had become an administrative nightmare. For instance, the reason why the House of Commons went to clear plastic garbage bags was that staff had taken to putting entire hams and roasts into plastic bags, and simply taking them off the Hill. It was a swamp of inefficiency, cronyism, and outright theft, largely because there was no meaningful oversight and control. Officially, that belonged to the Speaker, but no one had really exercised the control. She began to do that, apparently.