Recognition of official opposition.

• Author: Robert I, King of Scotland

Speaker Robert Bruce, Yukon Legislative Assembly, December 9, 1996.

Background: In the last election two opposition parties, the Yukon Party and the Liberal Party had an equal number of seats. On December 5, 1996, the member for Riverside, Jack Cable, raised the question of who should be the Official Opposition in the House. The member for Porter Creek North, John Ostashek, also spoke on this issue. In making his decision the Speaker relied upon the Standing Orders of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the precedents of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the relevant Yukon Statutes, and the precedents of the House of Commons of Canada.

The reason for using the precedents of the House of Commons is that Standing Order 1 of the Yukon Legislative Assembly states: "In all cases not provided for in these Standing Orders or by sessional or other orders, the practices and procedures of the House of Commons of Canada, as in force at the time, shall be followed, so far as they may apply to this Assembly."

The Ruling (Speaker Robert Bruce): The first basic issue to be addressed is whether there is a requirement that an Official Opposition be recognized in this House. The Yukon Legislative Assembly has given recognition to either the Official Opposition or the Leader of the Official Opposition in several places in the Standing Orders and in the Legislative Assembly Act. The Chair, therefore, must assume that the Assembly intends that there should be an Official Opposition. This is backed by Speaker Parent of the House of Commons in a ruling he made on February 27, 1996. Speaker Parent said:

The position of Leader of the Official Opposition is firmly anchored in our parliamentary system of government through practice and the implementation of various statutes and rules of procedure. The importance of the Official Opposition and its leader has been commented on both in Canada and in other countries with Westminster style Parliaments for well over a century. (1)

The second basic issue is who makes the decision as to who the Official Opposition will be. There seems to be no disagreement that this is the responsibility of the Speaker. Both the Member for Riverside and the Member for Porter Creek North indicated they felt the Speaker should make the decision. Also, again referring to the Speaker Parent decision:

The designation of the official opposition has never been decided on the floor of the House of Commons. As Speaker, I am entrusted with the...