page_title: Peter Milliken
section_title: Speaker of the House
hierarchical_section_title: Peter Milliken / Speaker of the House
caption_attribution_description: President Barack Obama signs the guest book in the Centre Block, Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is standing to Obama's right.
context_page_description: Peter Andrew Stewart Milliken PC OC FRSC UE is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until his retirement in 2011 and served as Speaker of the House for 10 years beginning in 2001. Milliken represented the Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands as a member of the Liberal Party. On October 12, 2009, he became the longest serving Speaker of the House of Commons in Canadian history. His Speakership was notable for the number of tie-breaking votes he was required to make as well as for making several historic rulings. Milliken also has the unique distinction of being the first Speaker to preside over four Parliaments. His legacy includes his landmark rulings on Parliament's right to information, which are key elements of parliamentary precedent both in Canada and throughout the Commonwealth.
  Milliken chose to stand down from Parliament at the 2011 federal election. His successor as Speaker, Andrew Scheer, was elected on June 2, 2011.
context_section_description: Milliken was elected Speaker of the House in late January 2001, after five ballots of a secret vote of all MPs held at the first sitting of parliament following the 2000 federal election. He was widely praised by government and opposition MPs for his rulings, which were considered very fair. He also brought new life to the chair in delivering his rulings and remarks with witty humour. Elected for his fifth term in 2004, he was the unanimous choice of MPs to be re-elected Speaker for the next parliament.
  In 2005, Milliken prevented an early federal election by breaking a tie vote on the second reading of Bill C-48, an amendment to the 2005 federal budget, which was a confidence motion. The vote was 152 in favour and 152 against prior to his vote, and he voted in favour of the bill. The Speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie, and must vote, by precedent, in such a way as to keep the matter open for further consideration if possible (i.e. passing C-48 to allow further debate for a third reading). This was the first time in Canadian history that a Speaker used his tie-breaker vote on a confidence motion. Upon rising to give brief remarks and cast his vote, he remarked "I don't know why honourable members keep doing this to me."
  Milliken won his riding for a sixth time in the 2006 election, as the Conservative Party won a minority government nationally. Though his party was no longer in government, he was re-elected Speaker of the House for the 39th Parliament on April 3, 2006, defeating fellow Liberals Diane Marleau and Marcel Proulx on the first ballot. With his re-election, he became only the second Speaker chosen from an opposition party in the history of the House of Commons (James Jerome, Liberal Member of Parliament for the Sudbury riding during the Joe Clark government, being the other).
  In February 2007, Milliken rejected the Conservative government's challenge of an opposition bill that commits the government to implement the Kyoto Accord. The government argued that the bill introduced new spending, and could not be introduced by someone who was not a minister. Milliken ruled that the bill did not specifically commit the government to any new spending, and was therefore in order. The bill was approved by the house, despite government opposition.
  Milliken was re-elected for a seventh term in the 2008 federal election, which again yielded a Conservative minority government. On November 18, after five ballots, he was elected for the fourth time as Speaker. On October 12, 2009, he became the longest serving Canadian House of Commons speaker in history.
  The Speaker only votes in order to break a tie. Speakers of the House of Commons have only needed to vote eleven times in Canadian parliamentary history – he cast five of the ten votes 
  since Confederation.
  On March 18, 2010, the three opposition parties asked Milliken to make a pivotal ruling on a question of privilege (specifically the power to send for persons, papers and records), in regards to Parliament's request for documents on the transfer of Afghan detainees, a notable issue in 2009 and 2010. On April 27, 2010, Milliken ruled that Parliament had a right to ask for uncensored documents. He asked that all House leaders, ministers and MPs to come to a collective solution by May 11, 2010 "without compromising the security and confidentiality contained.".
  On March 9, 2011, Milliken made two historic rulings finding a prima facie case of contempt of Parliament against the government of Stephen Harper, referring the matter to the Procedure Committee. The House subsequently voted to "agree with the finding of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs that the government is in contempt of Parliament" in supporting a non-confidence vote on March 25, 2011. Prior to the vote, the last House of Commons which Milliken would preside over, the Speaker was praised by MPs from all sides of the House. Conservative Government House Leader John Baird paid homage to Milliken's career, recalling a meeting he'd had with the Speaker of the House of Commons of the 
caption: Milliken (left) along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as US President Barack Obama signs the Parliament guest book on February 19, 2009
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