Appendix 4: Assistant Deputy Speakers and Deputy Chairs of Committees of the Whole Since 1938^*

On February 11, 1938, the Standing Orders of the House of Commons were amended to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole. The tenure of this office is for a single session rather than for a Parliament. Whenever the Chair of Committees of the Whole is absent, the Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole is entitled to exercise all the powers vested in the Chair of Committees of the Whole, including the powers as Deputy Speaker. After the first appointment, the position was left vacant for nine years and then, from 1947 until 1953, was only filled when necessary. In 1953 and subsequent years, the practice of appointing a Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole for a session was firmly established.

Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole House (Party)	Date(s) of Appointment	Parliament(s) (Years)
1. John Frederick Johnston¹ (Liberal)	February 11, 1938	3rd Session, 18th Parliament (1938)
2. William Henry Golding (Liberal)	March 28, 1947 December 15, 1947 January 27, 1949	3rd Session, 20th Parliament (1947) 4th Session, 20th Parliament (1947–48) 5th Session, 20th Parliament (1949)
3. Louis-René Beaudoin² (Liberal)	September 15, 1949 February 21, 1950 September 5, 1950 January 30, 1951 October 9, 1951 February 29, 1952	1st Session, 21st Parliament (1949) 2nd Session, 21st Parliament (1950) 3rd Session, 21st Parliament (1950–51) 4th Session, 21st Parliament (1951) 5th Session, 21st Parliament (1951) 6th Session, 21st Parliament (1952)
4. William Alfred Robinson³ (Liberal)	May 23, 1952 November 20, 1952	6th Session, 21st Parliament (1952) 7th Session, 21st Parliament (1952–53)
5. Edward T. Applewhaite (Liberal)	December 16, 1953 January 7, 1955 January 10, 1956 November 26, 1956 January 8, 1957	1st Session, 22nd Parliament (1953–54) 2nd Session, 22nd Parliament (1955) 3rd Session, 22nd Parliament (1956) 4th Session, 22nd Parliament (1956–57) 5th Session, 22nd Parliament (1957)
6. Arza Clair Casselman (Progressive Conservative)	October 15, 1957	23rd Parliament (1957–58)
7. Charles Edward Rea⁴ (Progressive Conservative)	May 12, 1958 January 15, 1959 January 14, 1960 November 17, 1960	1st Session, 24th Parliament (1958) 2nd Session, 24th Parliament (1959) 3rd Session, 24th Parliament (1960) 4th Session, 24th Parliament (1960–61)
8. Gordon Campbell Chown⁵ (Progressive Conservative)	June 8, 1961 January 18, 1962	4th Session, 24th Parliament (1961) 5th Session, 24th Parliament (1962)
9. Rémi Paul (Progressive Conservative)	September 27, 1962	25th Parliament (1962–63)
10. Herman Maxwell Batten⁶ (Liberal)	May 16, 1963 February 18, 1964 April 5, 1965	1st Session, 26th Parliament (1963) 2nd Session, 26th Parliament (1964–65) 3rd Session, 26th Parliament (1965)
11. Maurice Rinfret⁷ (Liberal)	January 18, 1966 May 8, 1967	1st Session, 27th Parliament (1966–67) 2nd Session, 27th Parliament (1967–68)
12. Albert Béchard⁸ (Liberal)	September 12, 1968 October 23, 1969	1st Session, 28th Parliament (1968–69) 2nd Session, 28th Parliament (1969–70)
13. Gérald Laniel⁹ (Liberal)	October 5, 1970 October 8, 1970 February 17, 1972 January 4, 1973¹⁰ February 27, 1974	2nd Session, 28th Parliament (1970) 3rd Session, 28th Parliament (1970–72) 4th Session, 28th Parliament (1972) 1st Session, 29th Parliament (1973–74) 2nd Session, 29th Parliament (1974)
14. Keith Penner¹¹ (Liberal)	September 30, 1974	1st Session, 30th Parliament (1974–75)
15. Charles Robert Turner (Liberal)	October 14, 1975 October 12, 1976 October 18, 1977 October 11, 1978	1st Session, 30th Parliament (1975–76) 2nd Session, 30th Parliament (1976–77) 3rd Session, 30th Parliament (1977–78) 4th Session, 30th Parliament (1978–79)
16. Fred McCain (Progressive Conservative)	October 9, 1979	31st Parliament (1979)
17. Denis Ethier¹² (Liberal)	April 14, 1980	1st Session, 32nd Parliament (1980–82)
18. Rod Blaker¹³ (Liberal)	July 27, 1982 December 7, 1983	1st Session, 32nd Parliament (1982–83) 2nd Session, 32nd Parliament (1983–84)
19. Harold Thomas Herbert (Liberal)	January 16, 1984	2nd Session, 32nd Parliament (1984)
20. Steven Paproski (Progressive Conservative)	November 5, 1984 October 1, 1986 December 12, 1988 April 3, 1989 May 13, 1991	1st Session, 33rd Parliament (1984–86) 2nd Session, 33rd Parliament (1986–88) 1st Session, 34th Parliament (1988–89) 2nd Session, 34th Parliament (1989–91) 3rd Session, 34th Parliament (1991–93)
21. Shirley Maheu¹⁴ (Liberal)	January 18, 1994	1st Session, 35th Parliament (1994–96)
22. Robert (Bob) Kilger¹⁵ (Liberal)	February 27, 1996	2nd Session, 35th Parliament (1996)
23. Peter Milliken¹⁶ (Liberal)	October 29, 1996	2nd Session, 35th Parliament (1996–97)
24. Ian McClelland¹⁷ (Reform)	September 23, 1997 October 12, 1999	1st Session, 36th Parliament (1997–99) 2nd Session, 36th Parliament (1999–2000)
25. Réginald Bélair (Liberal)	January 30, 2001 September 30, 2002 February 2, 2004	1st Session, 37th Parliament (2001–02) 2nd Session, 37th Parliament (2002–03) 3rd Session, 37th Parliament (2004)
26. Marcel Proulx¹⁸ (Liberal)	October 7, 2004	38th Parliament (2004–05)
27. Royal Galipeau (Conservative)	April 5, 2006 October 18, 2007	1st Session, 39th Parliament (2006–07) 2nd Session, 39th Parliament (2007–08)
28. Denise Savoie¹⁹ (New Democrat)	November 21, 2008 January 26, 2009 March 3, 2010	1st Session, 40th Parliament (2008) 2nd Session, 40th Parliament (2009) 3rd Session, 40th Parliament (2010–11)
29. Barry Devolin (Conservative)	June 6, 2011 October 16, 2013	1st Session, 41st Parliament (2011–13) 2nd Session, 41st Parliament (2013–15)
30. Carol Hughes (New Democrat)	December 7, 2015	1st Session, 42nd Parliament (2015– )

* Effective March 2003, the term “Chair” replaced the term “Chairman” in the Standing Orders of the House of Commons and, effective at the beginning of the 42nd Parliament, the term “Assistant Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole” replaced the term “Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole”.

1.: At the time of the appointment of John Frederick Johnston, it was expected that the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the Whole would be absent for a period of time. No Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole was appointed between 1938 and 1947.
2.: Louis-René Beaudoin was appointed Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of the Whole on April 9, 1952. The position of Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole remained vacant from that date until May 23, 1952.
3.: William Alfred Robinson was selected as Deputy Speaker in the next Parliament.
4.: Charles Edward Rea was replaced as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole, due to illness, on June 8, 1961.
5.: Gordon Campbell Chown was selected as Deputy Speaker in the next Parliament.
6.: Herman Maxwell Batten was selected as Deputy Speaker in the next Parliament.
7.: On December 26, 1967, Maurice Rinfret died in office. The position remained vacant during the remainder of the Second Session of the Twenty-Seventh Parliament.
8.: Albert Béchard was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice on October 1, 1970, and resigned as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole on October 5, 1970.
9.: Gérald Laniel was selected as Deputy Speaker in the Thirtieth Parliament.
10.: For the first time, the motion for this position was seconded by a Member of an opposition party.
11.: Keith Penner’s resignation as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole was announced in the House on October 14, 1975. He had been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Science and Technology on October 10, 1975.
12.: On July 21, 1982, the Speaker informed the House that Denis Ethier had resigned as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole, effective July 8, 1982.
13.: Rod Blaker resigned as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole on January 15, 1984. He had been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade on January 13, 1984.
14.: Shirley Maheu was appointed to the Senate on February 2, 1996.
15.: Robert (Bob) Kilger’s appointment was agreed to by the House on a recorded division (Journals, February 27, 1996, p. 3). This marked the first occasion that the motion for this position was adopted on a recorded division. Mr. Kilger resigned as Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole on October 29, 1996, when he was appointed Chief Government Whip by the Liberal Government.
16.: Peter Milliken’s appointment was agreed to by the House on a recorded division (Journals, October 29, 1996, pp. 787–8). Mr. Milliken was selected as Deputy Speaker in the next Parliament.
17.: For the first time, a Member of the Opposition was appointed to the position.
18.: Changes to the process for electing the Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole were implemented at the start of the Thirty-Eighth Parliament. The Speaker of the House, after consultation with the leaders of each of the officially recognized parties, announces the name of the Member he or she considers to be qualified for the position. The House then votes on the Speaker’s designation without debate or amendment.
19.: Denise Savoie was selected as Deputy Speaker in the next Parliament.

For questions about parliamentary procedure, contact the Table Research Branch

613-996-3611

trbdrb@parl.gc.ca

Appendix 4: Assistant Deputy Speakers and Deputy Chairs of Committees of the Whole Since 1938*

For questions about parliamentary procedure, contact the Table Research Branch

Appendix 4: Assistant Deputy Speakers and Deputy Chairs of Committees of the Whole Since 1938^*