Chris d’Entremont appointed Deputy Speaker of House of Commons

Chris d’Entremont, Member of Parliament for West Nova, says he is proud to be appointed Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

D’Entremont becomes the first-ever Acadian Deputy Speaker of the Canadian Parliament, and the second person from Nova Scotia to hold the position since Edgar Nelson Rhodes in 1916.

Anthony Rota, Speaker of the House of Commons, made the announcement on Nov. 24 following the first Question Period of the 44th Parliament.

D’Entremont had officially announced his candidacy for the speakership of the House of Commons earlier on when he sent a letter to all MPs, in which he explained his reasons, motivations and commitments.

“The last Parliament was, undoubtedly, a difficult one, given the unprecedented health crisis we have been travelling through, but also, due to the many revelations about the difficult work environment emerging at the centre of our democratic system,” he further said during a speech in the House of Commons. “It was becoming clearer by the day that our institution may be in trouble and for this reason, I did not want to sit on the sidelines.”

D’Entremont said elected members of the House of Commons have a duty to ensure that the health of democracy and free speech is maintained and respected at all times and that partisanship does not stand in the way of this. He said he accepted the appointment with “honour and humility.”

“I look forward to getting to work to secure a better future for my constituents of West Nova and for all Canadians,” he said.

Before being elected MP for West Nova in 2019, and again during the 2021 election, d’Entremont was an MLA for Nova Scotia for 16 years, where he served as minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Acadian and Francophone Affairs and Health and also served as Opposition House Leader.