POL111H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Mark Warawa, Abortion-Rights Movements, Aisle
Document Summary
Our house of commons is physically set up the same way as the british house of commons, with rows of members facing each other across the aisle. The government mps sit on the speaker"s right hand side; the opposition members, on his/her left. The largest opposition caucus sits directly across from the pm who is surrounded by his/her ministers. The speaker occupies the elevated chair at one end. He/she is the mp elected by all other mps. Election carried out at the beginning of parliament. Used to be an open vote, everyone could see how mps voted. Since 1986 the election is by secret ballot. Party leaders can no longer monitor how their mps vote for speaker. Speaker presides over meetings of the house and acts as a referee in debates. Speaker is expected to be impartial despite the fact they were elected as a partisan mp. Can add words prohibited words and terms to the list.
