Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the presiding officer of the territorial legislature in Nunavut, Canada. Since 1999 the position has been elected by Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) using a secret ballot. The current Speaker is Paul Quassa.[1]

The office of the Speaker

As the politics of Nunavut are run under a Westminster system, the role of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in Nunavut is very similar to that of the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada and the Speakers of the various other Canadian legislatures. The Speaker is responsible for enforcing the Rules of the Legislative Assembly,[2] and indeed the responsibilities of this office are also set out by these Rules. The Speaker is also the Chairperson of the Management and Services Board, which is tasked with the administration of the Legislative Assembly Precinct and the Office of the Legislative Assembly.[3]

The Speaker is elected on the first sitting day of the Assembly following a general election. Business may not commence before a Speaker is elected. The Speaker holds a casting vote should any vote of Members of the Legislative Assembly result in a tie, and should the Speaker be unable to act, the Deputy Speaker may act in his or her place. Decisions of the Speaker are not subject to debate or appeal.[4]

The former Speaker, Hunter Tootoo, was elected by MLAs on June 1, 2011. Tootoo, who was most recently Nunavut's Minister for Education prior to taking up his new role, is the longest-serving Member of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, and the only Member who was present in the first Assembly, opened in 1999.[5]

List of speakers
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
District Member Years as Speaker
Quttiktuq Levi BarnabasA B 1999–2000
Arviat Kevin O'Brien 2000–2004
Tununiq Jobie NutarakC 2004–2006
Pangnirtung Peter Kilabuk 2006–2008
Uqqummiut James Arreak[6] 2008–2010
Iqaluit West Paul Okalik[7] 2010–2011
Iqaluit Centre Hunter Tootoo[8] 2011–2013
Amittuq George Qulaut[9] 2013–2017
Tununiq Joe EnookD[10] 2017–2019
Baker Lake Simeon Mikkungwak[11] 2019–2020
Aggu Paul Quassa[1] 2020–present

Notes:

  • ^A Levi Barnabas was convicted of sexual assault in 2000.[12]
  • ^B Uriash Puqiqnak briefly served as acting speaker after Barnabas' resignation.[13]
  • ^C Jobie Nutarak died in a snowmobile accident in 2006.[14]
  • ^D Joe Enook died in office due to illness.

References
  1. Sharma, Rajnesh (February 26, 2020). "Quassa appointed as new Speaker of legislative assembly". Nunavut News. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. "Rules of the Legislative Assembly" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  3. "Role of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly" (PDF). Iqaluit: Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  4. "Rules of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut" (PDF). Iqaluit: Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-08. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  5. "Tootoo new Nunavut Speaker". APTN National News. June 1, 2011. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  6. Arreak selected as Speaker
  7. Nunavut Hansard, November 4, 2010
  8. "Nunavut MLAs choose Tootoo as new Speaker". cbc.ca. CBC News. May 31, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
  9. 3 candidates vie for Nunavut premier
  10. Four vie for premier’s job during Nunavut leadership forum
  11. "Member page for the Honourable Simeon Mikkungwak". Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, May 28, 2019.
  12. "Rebecca Williams wins a squeaker in Quttiktuq". Archived from the original on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  13. "HANSARD Official Report DAY 20 Wednesday, March 22, 2000" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  14. Nunavut Speaker dies on snowmobile hunting trip
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