Since Canada’s legislature was modelled after the British Parliament, so were the roles of its presiding officers.
In the Senate, the Speaker took on the more limited role of the United Kingdom’s Lord Chancellor, who presided over the House of Lords — the British Parliament’s upper house — until members of the Lords elected their first Lord Speaker in 2006.
Initially, the Speaker shepherded the Senate through the daily order of business and ensured that all senators had their chance to be heard, but in 1906 senators amended their own rules, giving the Speaker the power to maintain order and decorum in the Chamber.
Those changes gave the Speaker the ability to halt proceedings, to enforce the Rules of the Senate and to rule on points of order (in which a senator argues that a rule or customary procedure was not followed).
In 1991, the Speaker was granted the authority to suspend debate to restore order. Though the Speaker still possesses these powers, it has seldom been necessary to use them in debate.
The Speaker’s term in office is not fixed, but it tends to be relatively short. With 45 Speakers of the Senate since Confederation, the average length of service is three years. A solemn figure and a guardian of the institution, the Speaker represents tradition in the Senate. The Speaker is the only senator who still wears the traditional court garb of black robes, a tab collar and a tricorn hat.
Senators still nod or bow to the Speaker’s chair when they enter or leave the room as a sign of respect. In addition, a sitting of the Senate may only begin when the Speaker enters the Chamber in the Speaker’s Parade and reads the opening prayers.