LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MANITOBA
Thursday, October 20, 2011
At 10 a.m., the Sergeant-at-Arms, carrying the mace in the crook of his arm and followed by the Clerks of the Legislative Assembly, entered the Chamber. The Sergeant-at-Arms returned to the main entrance of the Chamber and shouldered the mace. The Clerks took post on the west side of the Chamber, stood and awaited the arrival of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
Madam Clerk (Patricia Chaychuk): I am pleased to advise the Assembly that I have received from the chief electoral officer the lists of names of members elected to serve in the Fortieth Legislature, and I am tabling these lists.
The Premier and the military and civil aides accompanied His Honour to the Chamber in the following order:
The honorary aides-de-camp on the right;
The officer escort on the left;
The Premier;
The Lieutenant-Governor.
At the main entrance, the military and civil aides halted and turned inwards to allow the Lieutenant-Governor and Premier to proceed through the north doors, where His Honour was met by the mace.
Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms (Mr. Ray Gislason): His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Lieutenant-Governor then, preceded by the mace carried shoulder high and followed on his left by the military aide and on his right by the civil aide, proceeded along the west side of the Chamber to the throne. The Premier proceeded along the east side and stood on the floor on the east side of the Chamber.
The military aide took up his position on the east side of the throne and the civil aide took up his position on the west side of the throne.
The Lieutenant-Governor seated himself on the throne; the Sergeant-at-Arms made obeisance with the mace and retired to the east side of the Chamber.
Hon. Philip Lee (Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Manitoba): Please be seated.
Hon. Andrew Swan (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I am directed by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor to inform you that he will not declare the causes of calling this Legislature until a Speaker has been elected in accordance with the law.
The Sergeant-at-Arms made obeisance with the mace.
Preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Lieutenant-Governor accompanied by the honorary aides-de-camp, officer escort and the Premier, exited the Chamber.
The Premier returned. The Sergeant-at-Arms placed the mace under the table and the Clerks took their chairs at the table.
Madam Clerk: Please be seated.
Members of the Legislative Assembly, pursuant to the Lieutenant-Governor’s direction and the rules of the Assembly, it is my duty to call upon you to elect a member to preside over your deliberations as Speaker. Would the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms please place the voting booths and the ballot box in position, and would the pages please distribute the list of candidates to all members’ desks and place one in each voting booth.
For your information, before beginning the election, I will briefly outline the process to be followed as set out in the Rules of the House.
For each round of balloting, members will be asked to go to the blue-carpeted area behind the third row of desks on the respective sides of the House, then file past the Speaker’s chair and proceed down the steps to the Clerks’ table. At the Clerks’ table, each MLA will be handed a ballot by the Clerk and asked by the Deputy Clerk and the Clerk Assistant to initial a list to verify receipt of a ballot. Each MLA will then proceed to the nearest voting booth, and in the voting booth please print or write legibly the surname, i.e., the last name of the candidate you support, on the ballot paper and then place it in the ballot box at the end of the Clerks’ table and return to your seat. Now, you can only vote for one candidate on the list of candidates, so please do not rank the candidates. Only write one surname. And I have to tell you, write-in ballots for members are not permitted for people not on the list.
* (10:10)
When all members wishing to vote have done so, the House will recess while the Clerks withdraw to count the vote. A majority of the votes cast–that is, 50 per cent plus one–is required to elect the Speaker. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate who received the lowest number of votes will be dropped from the next ballot. If two candidates are tied with the lowest number of votes, they are both dropped. If all candidates receive the same number of votes, no names are dropped from the ballot, and immediately before the start of the second or any subsequent ballot, members who wish to withdraw will be given an opportunity to do so. When the count of each ballot is completed, a five-minute bell will ring to summon the members to the Chamber to hear the results.
The following members have declared their intention to stand for election to the office of Speaker. The candidates, in alphabetic order by last name, are Greg Dewar, Tom Nevakshonoff and Daryl Reid. In preparation for the vote, the Sergeant-at-Arms will now inspect and lock the ballot box.
The list of candidates is on each member’s desk and in each of the two voting booths. I will now open the sealed ballots and proceed with the beginning of the voting procedure.
I would now ask those members who wish to cast their ballots to proceed to the blue-carpeted area behind the third row of seating on your respective side of the House and file past the Speaker’s chair and come to the Clerks’ table.
* (10:20)
Honourable members, may I have your attention please. If there are any members who have not voted and who wish to do so, please approach the ballot area now.
Seeing none, the House will now recess to the call of the bells while the Clerks count the ballots. As mentioned, the bells will ring for five minutes to recall members to the Chamber when the results of the first ballot are ready to be announced, and thank you all very much for your co-operation this morning.
The House recessed at 10:23 a.m.
____________
The House resumed at 10:37 p.m.
Madam Clerk: Honourable members, the member for Transcona, Daryl Reid, has received a majority of the votes cast. Pursuant to the rules, I declare Daryl Reid, the honourable member for Transcona, elected as Speaker of the Fortieth Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. [applause]
The Premier and the Leader of the Opposition escorted the newly elected Speaker to the Chair and he was invested with the robes of office.
The mace was then placed on the table.
* (10:40)
Mr. Speaker: Your Honour, the Legislative–pardon me, wrong page.
Honourable members of the Fortieth Legislative Assembly, I wish to thank the members for the high honour the House has conferred upon me, and I leave the floor of the House to take the Speaker’s chair. I leave behind all political and partisan feelings and I intend to carry out the important duties of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly with impartiality and to the best of my ability. [applause]
The Sergeant-at-Arms with the mace returned to the north door.
The Premier left the Chamber to meet His Honour in the reception room.
The Speaker took post on the east side and the Clerks took post on the west side of the Chamber.
Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms: His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by the honorary aides-de-camp, officer escort and the Premier, entered the Chamber, preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and proceeded to and was seated on the throne.
Mr. Speaker: Your Honour, the Legislative Assembly has elected me as its Speaker. On behalf of the Assembly, it is my duty to claim all of the Assembly’s traditional rights and privileges, especially the privilege of freedom of speech in debate and access to Your Honour when required. I ask you to give the most favourable consideration to the Assembly’s proceedings.
Mr. Swan: His Honour is confident that the Assembly’s proceedings will be conducted with wisdom and prudence. In addition, His Honour grants the Assembly’s claim to its traditional rights and privileges. His Honour will declare the causes of calling this Legislative Assembly on Thursday, October 20th at 1:30 p.m.
His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor rose from the throne to retire. The Sergeant-at-Arms made obeisance with the mace and preceded the Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by the honorary aides-de-camp, officer escort and the Premier, towards the north doors of the Chamber.
The Sergeant-at-Arms remained at the north doors facing the throne.
The Speaker then took the Chair.
The Sergeant-at-Arms made obeisance with the mace before the Speaker’s chair and returned to the table and remained standing. The Clerks took their chairs at the table.
Mr. Speaker: The House will recess and reconvene at 1:30 p.m. Thank you.