Greg Fergus Elected as Canada's First Black Speaker of the House of Representatives

Greg Fergus made history as the first black person to become Speaker of the Canadian House of Representatives. (www.canada.ca)

JAKARTA - Canada announced the appointment of Greg Fergus as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, making him the first black Canadian to hold that position.

Fergus, a member of parliament from the Liberal Party, will replace Anthony Rota who resigned last week after inviting the former Nazi member to the Canadian parliament when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on September 22.

Rota said he did not know of Varoslav Hunka's ties to the Nazis, but when Hunka's past became known, Rota's misdeeds made international headlines. This is a huge embarrassment to parliament and all Canadians.

Fergus is one of seven members of parliament who are running to become chairman of the DPR. The speaker of parliament is the person responsible for controlling the behavior of members of parliament, setting the parliamentary agenda, and making decisions about how debates are conducted.

Canadian parliamentarians frequently engage in heated and unproductive debates, often accompanied by actions such as interrupting the speaker with taunts, insults and other negative comments.

Fergus said he hoped to restore order and respect in parliament.

"Respect and courtesy – I will work hard on this point and I need your help to make this happen," said Fergus in his speech to members of parliament after being elected by secret ballot as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Wednesday, October 4.

“Respect is a fundamental part of what we do here,” he said.

“We need to ensure that we treat each other with respect and show that example to Canadian society. There can be no dialogue unless there is a shared understanding of respect.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he wished Fergus success in his efforts.

“We elected you to help us be respectful in our debates, to remind us that we are all here for the same reason, namely to serve Canadians,” Trudeau said.

Even though he is a member of a political party, Fergus' role as chairman of the DPR is non-partisan or neutral and does not take sides in carrying out his duties.