OTTAWA, Ont. — Members of Parliament are heading back to the Hill in early December and Halifax West MP Geoff Regan may once again be the House referee.
The House of Commons will reconvene on December 5, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday following meetings with opposition leader Andrew Scheer.
Before that it was uncertain whether the House would sit before the new year, but the Conservatives, official opposition in the new minority government, had been pushing for Parliament to reconvene as early as Nov. 25.
The first order of business will be the election of a new speaker, followed by the throne speech, a largely ceremonial affair that lays out in broad strokes of the ruling party's plan to govern.
Regan has served as the house speaker since 2015 and his office confirmed Monday that he intends to put his name forward again.
“Mr. Regan is deeply honoured to have been re-elected to represent the people of Halifax West and looks forward to the opening of the 43rd Parliament,” his office said in a statement. “He would also welcome the opportunity to place his experience as Speaker in the 42nd Parliament at the service of the House of Commons, and will therefore be letting his name stand as a candidate for the position of Speaker.”
Regan has developed a reputation as a no-nonsense speaker who wasn't shy to put MPs who in their place in the interest of decorum.
Former national Green Party leader Elizabeth May also previously expressed interest in becoming the next house speaker but changed her mind following consultation with her caucus.
Except for ministers and party leaders, all members are considered candidates for the position of Speaker unless they inform the Clerk of the House that they don’t want to stand for the office the day prior to the election.
Trudeau is expected to announce his cabinet on Nov. 20.
Following the first meeting between Trudeau and Scheer since the Oct. 21 election on Tuesday, Scheer said what he would like to see in the upcoming speech from the throne.
"In our meeting today, I told Mr. Trudeau that Canada is as divided as it ever has been,” Scheer said. “The steps I outlined in my meeting with him today are reasonable, achievable, and would begin to heal the divisions Trudeau sowed during the election campaign.”
The priorities included launching a task force to study the establishment of a national energy corridor, offering broad-based tax relief, providing a date for balancing the budget, proceeding with fair tax-free maternity benefits, introducing stronger penalties in the Conflict of Interest Act, and tabling a detailed plan to proceed with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
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