Dean of the House (Canada)

In Canada, the dean of the House (French: doyen de la Chambre) is the sitting Member of the House of Commons with the longest unbroken record of service. The dean is responsible for presiding over the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons at the beginning of each Parliament. The position is the equivalent of the Father of the House in the British House of Commons.

Following a General election, or, the resignation or death of the sitting Speaker, the house meets to elect a new Speaker.^[1] This was started in 1986, however at the time, Speaker John Bosley presided. The first time the modern election system for speaker was used was in 1994.

During these elections, the Dean of the House takes the role of presiding officer. If the longest serving member is a Cabinet Minister, party Leader, House Leader or Whip, they are not able to act as presiding officer.^[2] In 1994, following the 1993 election, Len Hopkins filled this role as Herb Gray, the longest serving member, was in Cabinet.^[3] Although Gray was in cabinet, he was still referred to as Dean both in Hansard^[4] and by the press.^[5] Gray was also the longest-serving dean of the House up until that point, holding the role for 14 years from 1988-2002.

The current dean of the House is Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon, who was first elected to the Commons as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1984.^[6] In 2023, Plamondon eclipsed Gray as the longest-serving dean of the House, with 15 years in the role. The second-longest serving MP is currently Lawrence MacAulay, first elected in 1988. However, as a Cabinet Minister, MacAulay would not be able to service as Dean should Plamondon vacate his seat. Instead, MP Hedy Fry, first elected in 1993, would act in his place. Upon the resignation of Speaker Anthony Rota in 2023, Plamondon will serve for the sixth time as presiding officer in the election of the Speaker.^[7]

The chart below refers to longest-serving members, some of whom served in front-bench roles and, as such, did not preside over the election of the Speaker.

List of longest-serving members

Member			Party	Entered House	Became longest serving member	Left House	Years as a Member	Years as Dean
		John Costigan	Liberal-Conservative (until 1906)	1867	June 23, 1896	March 5, 1907	40	11
			Liberal (after 1906)
		John Graham Haggart	Conservative	1872	March 5, 1907	March 13, 1913	41	6
		Wilfrid Laurier[note 1]	Liberal	1874	March 13, 1913	February 17, 1919	45	6
		John Reid	Conservative	1891	February 17, 1919	December 6, 1921	30	2
		William MacLean	Unionist	1892	December 6, 1921	September 14, 1926	34	5
		Rodolphe Lemieux	Liberal	1896	September 14, 1926	July 28, 1930	34	4
		Charles Marcil	Liberal	1900	July 28, 1930	March 22, 1937	37	7
		Ernest Lapointe	Liberal	1904	March 22, 1937	November 26, 1941	37	4
		Arthur Cardin	Liberal (until 1942)	1911	November 26, 1941	October 21, 1946	35	5
			Independent (after 1942)
		Charles Gavan Power	Liberal	1917	October 21, 1946	July 28, 1955	38	9
		William Earl Rowe	Progressive Conservative	1925	July 28, 1955	April 8, 1963	38	8
		Azellus Denis	Liberal	1935	April 8, 1963	February 3, 1964	29	1
		Paul Martin Sr.	Liberal	1935	February 3, 1964	June 25, 1968	33	4
		John Diefenbaker	Progressive Conservative	1940	June 25, 1968	August 16, 1979	39	11
		Walter Dinsdale	Progressive Conservative	1951	August 16, 1979	November 20, 1982	31	3
		Robert Coates[note 2]	Progressive Conservative	1957	November 20, 1982	November 21, 1988	31	6
		Herb Gray[note 3]	Liberal	1962	November 21, 1988	January 14, 2002	40	14
		Charles Caccia	Liberal	1968	January 14, 2002	June 28, 2004	36	2
		Bill Blaikie	New Democrat	1979	June 28, 2004	October 14, 2008	29	4
		Louis Plamondon[note 4]	Progressive Conservative (until 1990)	1984	October 14, 2008	incumbent	39	15 (as of 2023)
			Bloc Québécois (1990–2018)
			Québec Debout (2018)
			Bloc Québécois (2018–present)

Notes

References