Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

The Race for Kingsmere: Behold, the final — sixteen? Are you kidding me?

by kadyomalley on Monday, November 17, 2008 10:26pm - 18 Comments

Before anyone panics over some of the heretofore unmentioned names that show up on the following list  - Dean del Mastro? Rob Anders? David Tilson?  This is indeed a disturbing universe – ITQ would like to point out that it’s very likely that most appear simply because the MP in question forgot to tell the Clerk’s office to remove his or her name from the list.

Now that we have that out of the way: 

From: COMMUNIQUÉ: Clerk of the House/Greffière de la Chambre
Sent: November 17, 2008 6:19 PM
To: MEMBERS’ OFFICES/BUREAUX DES DÉPUTÉS; HoC – ADMINISTRATION – CdC; LIBRARY/BIBLIOTHÈQUE; – SEN GLOBAL; Press Gallery 1; OFFICE OF THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ETHICS COMMISSIONER/COMMISSARIAT AUX CONFLITS D’INTÉRÊTS ET À L’ÉTHIQUE

Cc: CPC Whip; Keller, Garry; CPC House Leader; Baran, Yaroslav; Prest, David; LIB House Leader; Wackid, Richard; Dompierre, Hugo; BQ Whip Assistant; Desnoyers, Annie; Sutherland, Rob; Kavanagh, Theresa; St-Martin, Nicole; Sauvé, Nathalie; Lauzon, Mélanie; WHIPS

Subject: Election of the Speaker / Élection du Président
The list of candidates for the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. is as follows:

ANDERS, Rob
BÉLANGER, Mauril
CALANDRA, Paul
COMARTIN, Joe
DEL MASTRO, Dean
DEVOLIN, Barry
GALIPEAU, Royal
LUNNEY, James
MILLIKEN, Peter
OUELLET, Christian
SCHEER, Andrew
SMITH, Joy
TILSON, David
TONKS, Alan
TWEED, Mervin
WESTON, Rodney (Saint John)

 


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  • madeyoulook

    (From Hansard, January 2009)

    Clerk: Yeas 175, Nays 126.

    Speaker Tilson: The motion is adopted. Damned tyrannical majority…

  • http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

    Somewhere, Paul Szabo is rubbing his hands together with impish glee, whispering one word, over and over: “Payback.”

  • madeyoulook

    Kady, are there runoffs until we hit 50%+1? Or will we hear wails of illegitimacy because more people voted against the victor than for?

  • Bridget

    Dean Del Mastro? Are you kidding me? I would worry about him getting a take out order mixed up – let alone comprehending points of order!

  • http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

    Conduct of the Election
    In answer to your questions: yes, and maybe, respectively.
    From the parliamentary website:

    The election is presided over by the “Dean of the House”, the Member with the longest unbroken record of service in the House who is not a Cabinet Minister, party Leader, House Leader or Whip.

    The election is conducted by secret ballot using voting booths placed on the Table in front of the Speaker’s chair. During the election, no debate is allowed, no motion is accepted and no question of privilege may be raised.

    When the first ballot is completed and counted, the bells are rung and the Members are called to hear the results. If no Member has received an absolute majority of the votes cast, a second ballot begins. The name of the candidate who received the least number of votes, together with the names of any candidate who received 5% or less of the ballots cast on the previous round, are removed from the list.

    This procedure continues until a candidate has obtained a majority of votes.

    So, yes – the runoffs continue until someone gets a majority, with at least one candidate dropping off after each ballot. – but here’s the thing — I don’t believe the results are ever revealed, so you never really know how close the race might have been. (I have this odd idea in my head that they burn the ballots afterwards, but I may be mixing it up with the papal conclave.)

  • OttawaGuy

    It is very normal to see unexpected names for exactly the reason Kady outlines — the member in question “forgot” to advise the Clerk’s office to remove their name.

    As to madeyoulook’s question, yes, the Speaker must get 50%+1. The member with the fewest votes (and anyone with less than 5%) is dropped, and they keep having ballots until someone has the necessary support.

  • T. Thwim

    I’m not sure whether to hope it’s Rob Anders or not. On one hand it’d mean QP would essentially have to shut down or be subject to riots outside the building. On the other, until then it’d be so endlessly entertaining to see how many times he could shoot himself and his own party before somebody got fed up and went in there to do it for him.

  • Jenn

    Oh come on. It’s GOT to be Tilson. On the one hand, you’d guarantee removing him from each and every committee. And as a bonus, nobody could out cranky Tilson! I’ve no doubt if someone even looks across the room wrong, he’d be ejected from his seat. Points of Order? Hahaha. Nobody would DARE!

  • Andrew

    Why not use preferential voting? They wouldn’t need to call multiple ballots, without changing the end result.

  • http://craigradcliffe.com Craig Radcliffe

    Does anybody else find it a bit odd that the election of the speaker is fairer than the elections of the MPs themselves?

  • Sisyphus

    Tilson.

    Del Mastro.

    The mental image brings joy to my heart.

    Speaking of ….. a Speaker named Joy (Smith) … well, that would be nice.

  • Nbob

    Oh Please Please let it be Rob Anders!!!

    With all the stupid reality shows and dancing with the idols and what not there just aren’t any decent situation comedies on the box anymore.

    CPAC ratings will skyrocket !!!

    btw: the new format is not very iPhone friendly – keeps crashing when ever I try to sneak a peak on the go

  • Jack Mitchell

    Rob Anders, eh? Careful what you wish for in a field of 12, Thwim & Nbob! Hoo nellie.

  • http://www.bluelikeyou.com/ Joanne (T.B.)

    Will you be live-blogging, Kady?

  • http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

    I will indeed! Live from the gallery right above the Speaker’s chair, so watch for a little blonde head hunched over a blackberry when CPAC does a wide shot.

  • http://www.bluelikeyou.com/ Joanne (T.B.)

    Awesome! I’ll be watching, Kady.

  • http://phantomobserver.com PhantomObserver

    You have to admit, this definitely sounds much more exciting than the Liberal leadership campaign.

  • John D

    Wait, if the Dean conducts the vote, does he do so from the chair? Has Bloc MP ever sat in the chair before? The idea creeps me out.

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