race for kingsmere

Kady O’Malley liveblogs the election of the speaker

Before anyone panics over some of the heretofore unmentioned names that show up on the following list  – Dean del Mastro? Rob Anders? David Tilson?  This is indeed a disturbing universe – ITQ would like to point out that it’s very likely that most appear simply because the MP in question forgot to tell the Clerk’s office to remove his or her name from the list.

But ITQ cannot join with Aaron Wherry in endorsing Joe Comartin for Speaker of the House, for the very reasons that Aaron reiterates in his post — in a nutshell, he’s just too valuable a critic, committee member and cable news talking head to be silenced by the strict impartiality requirements of Chair.

Not sure why it’s taken so long for Royal Galipeau to make it official, but he’s now the seventh (!) MP — and the fourth Conservative — to enter the race to turf Peter Milliken from the Speaker’s chair. The ITQ poll has been updated accordingly:

At least, that’s what ITQ has been told – we’ve not yet gotten our hands on the formal e-nnouncement (hint, hint): Ottawa Vanier’s very own Mauril Belanger, which brings the total number of candidates to six, including the incumbent. I’m not sure what this does to the anti-Milliken conspiracy theory, but at the moment, it looks like next Tuesday’s vote may turn out to be more interesting than we could have possibly hoped.  

Behold the ‘whatever’ that he considers ‘necessary’ to transform the House from a partisan echo chamber to a forum for civilized and productive debate.

With Andrew Scheer officially throwing his bicorn associate deputy speaker’s hat into the ring, we now have at least five MPs vying for the chance to sit in the Big Chair, which may actually be a Canadian parliamentary record for a race in which the incumbent Speaker is running for reelection, although I’m sure someone will correct me in the comment if that’s wrong. (I mean actively vying, not just those who will leave their names on the list out of forgetfulness, or just for kicks.)

Let the …. uh, illustration of desire begin:

Fellow gallerybloggerytype David Akin lays out the latest gossip from the Hill berryvine on the race for the Speaker’s chair, which  – if he and the CBC parliamentary bureau are right – may turn out to be a real race this time around, rather than just a pro forma victory for the current occupant, Peter Milliken.