Speaker named for the BC Legislature
Posted June 22, 2017 10:26 am.
Last Updated June 22, 2017 12:02 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thomson has been elected as speaker for the BC Legislative Assembly.
He was the only BC Liberal to step forward.
Thomson, who was nicknamed Ox when he was a member of Canada’s rugby team, is the former minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations. He will remain in the post as the throne speech is read this afternoon, although it’s expected the Liberal government will fall as early as next in a confidence vote.
Speakers are currently elected by a secret ballot among all members of the legislature and must be an elected MLA themselves. Speakers are typically, though not always, elected from among the ruling party. Electing a speaker is the first order of business for a new legislative assembly.
The speaker’s duties include keeping the house in order, enforcing the rules of parliamentary procedure, and in the event of a tie vote, they cast the deciding ballot.
The Speaker is destined to play a pivotal role in the 87-seat legislature.
The Liberals have 43 seats, one shy of a majority, but the New Democrats, with 41 seats, and the Greens with three seats have agreed to vote together to defeat the Liberals in a confidence vote.
Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals table a throne speech today that outlines the government’s agenda, even though their defeat is likely.
