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Speaker

Friday January 6, 2023

January 6, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 6, 2023

Canada and the U.S. both have House Speakers. For one of them, the stakes are a lot higher

It’s being called the “battle for the gavel,” a historic fight in the U.S. over who will hold the title of Speaker, the presiding member of the House of Representatives.

Angry Washington – available at the boutique.

For nearly two full days, bitter partisanship within the Republican party, now the majority in the House, has turned what’s normally a swift affair into a protracted stalemate over who from their ranks ought to hold the job.

Multiple rounds of voting so far haven’t meaningfully moved the needle, and it is holding up the start of the next Congress for the first time in 100 years.

“The rest of the world is looking,” said U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday of the chaos.

“They’re looking at, you know, can we get our act together?”

By contrast, the drama that’s attached to what might be called the “race for the mace” in Canada — the election of a Speaker for the House of Commons — pales in comparison.

The job of Speaker hearkens back over 600 years to the formative Parliaments in Britain, and an agreed-upon need for someone to oversee and guide the work of the legislature.

That a Speaker is required for Congress as well as for the House of Commons and Senate is part of the constitutions of both countries.

Still, with the two countries having different systems of government, the jobs have developed differently over time and with contrasting political dynamics.

December 16, 2020

In the U.S, the evolution has given the House Speaker a number of powers which — depending on the makeup of Congress — can allow a Speaker to derail a president’s agenda, drive their own party’s legislative goals and reward or punish fellow elected representatives with plum committee posts.

That makes the person in the job — normally chosen from the majority party — exceptionally influential; among other things, should the president not be able to fulfil their duties, nor the vice-president, it is the House Speaker who is on deck.

Former House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer used a sports analogy to describe the difference between the post in Canada versus that in the U.S.

“In Canada, it’s far more of a referee, where in the U.S. it is more like a quarterback,” he said when reached by the Star on Tuesday.

What Speakers referee is the House of Commons itself, ensuring the rights and privileges of MPs are respected as is the decorum and work of Parliament — there’s rarely a day, for example, where the Speaker doesn’t intervene to ask MPs to mind their manners as they joust.

They do it from a largely neutral position as the job is understood by all parties to place the business of Parliament above that of partisanship. Speakers only cast a vote in the event of a tie, don’t participate in debates, stay away from partisan party caucus meetings and even have to watch their words when they campaign for seats during general elections. (The Toronto Star) 

rom sketch to finish, in 30 seconds, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro … These sped up clips are posted to encourage others to be creative, to take advantage of the technology many of us already have and to use it to produce satire. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comforted.

https://mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0106-NATshort.mp4

 

Posted in: Canada, USA Tagged: 2023-01, Anthony Rota, Canada, House of Commons, House of Representatives, Justin Trudeau, Kevin McCarthy, news, Parliament, recess, Speaker

Thursday October 27, 2011

October 27, 2011 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 27, 2011

Klees faces uphill battle to become Speaker

Progressive Conservative Frank Klees will face a near impossible battle in his bid for Speaker after angering his caucus and squaring off against Liberals who will themselves be vying for the job.

Klees raised eyebrows Tuesday by announcing that he would run for Speaker, against his party’s wishes, in a move that could hand the Liberals a virtual majority and split the vote evenly between the minority Liberals and the two opposition parties.

It’s a risky move for Klees and one unlikely to pay off, according to insiders and political experts.

Enraged Tories lashed out at their colleague after his intentions were made public, warning they had no plans to vote for Klees in the Speaker election.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath suggested Wednesday her caucus would also vote together to block Klees.

“We’ve already made a commitment as a caucus that when we determine what the best interests are, what the best result will be for New Democrats to actually achieve something for Ontarians, that we will vote accordingly as a group in terms of the Speaker’s chair,” Horwath said.

“I guess that’s in some way an acknowledgment that we’re concerned about what it does to the configuration of the legislature if we have an opposition member in the Speaker’s chair, that’s one of the reasons why none of us decided to ultimately make that bid.”

There are four Liberals currently in the running for Speaker: Donna Cansfield, Dave Levac, Kevin Flynn and David Zimmer. (CTV) 

 

Posted in: Ontario Tagged: baby seat, Frank Klees, Legislature, majority, Minority, Ontario, Queen's Park, Speaker

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This website contains satirical commentaries of current events going back several decades. Some readers may not share this sense of humour nor the opinions expressed by the artist. To understand editorial cartoons it is important to understand their effectiveness as a counterweight to power. It is presumed readers approach satire with a broad minded foundation and healthy knowledge of objective facts of the subjects depicted.

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