Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
Président de l'Assemblée législative du Nouveau-Brunswick
Incumbent Bill Oliver since October 7, 2020
Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
Member of	Legislative Assembly
Seat	New Brunswick Legislative Building
Formation	January 3, 1786 (1786-01-03)
First holder	Amos Botsford

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is the presiding officer of the provincial legislature. Since 1994 the position has been elected by MLAs using a secret ballot. Previously, the Speaker had been appointed by motion of the house, in practice moved by the Premier of New Brunswick usually after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. Shirley Dysart was the first Speaker to be elected by his or her peers.

The Speaker is usually a member of the governing party. The only recent exceptions have been Robert McCready and Michael Malley. McCready was appointed by motion of Premier Richard Hatfield following the close election of 1978. Hatfield's Progressive Conservative Party had won only 30 seats compared to the 28 seats won by the opposition Liberal Party. McCready was a member of the Liberal caucus and was appointed over the objection of the Liberal Party. The Liberal opposition argued on a point of order before the clerk of the assembly that precedent required that the opposition support the motion appointing speaker, but the clerk allowed the motion to be put and carried by the government. Malley was elected in 2006 while sitting as an independent. Malley had left the government caucus following a cabinet shuffle that had seen the incumbent speaker, Bev Harrison, join the cabinet leaving the post vacant. Malley argued that he should have been included in the cabinet for regional reasons and left the government caucus in protest; to prevent losing control of the legislature in a tenuous minority government situation, the Progressive Conservative caucus supported Malley as speaker. Malley later changed his party affiliation, amid some controversy, back to that of the governing Progressive Conservatives while occupying the speakership.

List of speakers

No.	Name Electoral district (Birth–Death)	Term of office	Party		Legislature
1	Amos Botsford MLA for Westmorland (1744/1745–1812)	1786–1812		Independent	1st
					2nd
					3rd
					4th
					5th
2	John Robinson MLA for Saint John City (1762–1828)	1813–1816		Independent
3	William Botsford MLA for Westmorland (1773–1864)	1817–1823		Independent	6th
					7th
					8th
4	Ward Chipman Jr. MLA for Saint John County (1787–1851)	1824–1825		Independent
5	Harry Peters MLA for Saint John City (1788–1870)	1826–1827		Independent
6	Richard Simonds MLA for Northumberland (1789–1836)	1828		Independent	9th
7	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1829–1830		Independent
					10th
8	William Crane MLA for Westmorland (1785–1853)	1831–1834		Independent
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1835–1842		Independent	11th
					12th
9	John Wesley Weldon MLA for Kent (1809–1885)	1843–1850		Independent	13th
					14th
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1851		Independent	15th
(8)	William Crane MLA for Westmorland (1785–1853)	1852–1853		Independent
10	Daniel Hanington MLA for Westmorland (1804–1889)	1853–1856		Independent
					16th
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1856–1857		Independent	17th
11	James A. Harding MLA for Saint John City (1820–1893)	1857–1858		Independent	18th
12	John Mercer Johnson MLA for Northumberland (1818–1868)	1859–1862		Independent
					19th
13	John Campbell Allen MLA for York (1817–1898)	1863–1864		Independent
14	Edwin Arnold Vail MLA for Kings (1817–1885)	1865–1866		Independent	20th
15	John Hamilton Gray MLA for Saint John County (1814–1889)	1866–1867		Independent	21st
16	Bliss Botsford MLA for Westmorland (1813–1890)	1868–1870		Independent
(14)	Edwin Arnold Vail MLA for Kings (1817–1885)	1871–1874		Independent	22nd
17	William Wedderburn MLA for Saint John City (1834–1918)	1875–1878		Independent	23rd
18	Benjamin Robert Stephenson MLA for Charlotte (1835–1890)	1879–1882		Independent	24th
19	James E. Lynott MLA for Charlotte (1839–1890)	1883–1886		Independent	25th
20	William Pugsley MLA for Kings (1850–1925)	1887–1889		Independent	26th
21	Albert Scott White MLA for Kings (1855–1931)	1890–1892		Independent	27th
22	John Percival Burchill MLA for Northumberland (1855–1923)	1893–1899		Independent	28th
					29th
23	Clifford William Robinson MLA for Westmorland (1866–1944)	1901–1907		Independent	30th
					31st
24	Charles J. Osman MLA for Albert (1851–1922)	1907		Independent
25	Donald Morrison MLA for Northumberland (1852–1920)	1908		Independent	32nd
26	George Johnson Clarke MLA for Charlotte (1857–1917)	1909–1914		Independent
					33rd
27	Walter B. Dickson MLA for Albert (1847–1916)	1914–1916		Independent
28	Olivier-Maximin Melanson MLA for Westmorland (1854–1926)	1916		Independent
29	William Currie MLA for Restigouche (1862–1934)	1917–1918		Liberal	34th
30	Judson Hetherington MLA for Queens (1866–1928)	1919–1920		Liberal
31	Allison Dysart MLA for Kent (1880–1962)	1921–1925		Liberal	35th
32	Joseph Leonard O'Brien MLA for Northumberland (1895–1973)	1926–1930		Conservative	36th
33	Frederick C. Squires MLA for Carleton (1881–1960)	1931–1935		Conservative	37th
34	Hedley Francis Gregory Bridges MLA for Restigouche (1902–1947)	1936–1938		Liberal	38th
35	Frederic McGrand MLA for Queens (1895–1988)	1940–1944		Liberal	39th
36	Harry O. Downey MLA for Albert (1897–1974)	1945–1952		Liberal	40th
					41st
37	Elmor T. Kennedy MLA for Kings (1885–1953)	1953		Progressive Conservative	42nd
38	Walter Powers MLA for Victoria (1895–1954)	1954		Progressive Conservative
39	J. Arthur Moore MLA for Queens (1891–1979)	1955–1960		Progressive Conservative
					43rd
40	Ernest Richard MLA for Gloucester (1922–2006)	1960–1963		Liberal	44th
41	Bernard Jean MLA for Gloucester (1925–2012)	1963–1966		Liberal	45th
42	H. H. Williamson MLA for Gloucester (1916–1972)	1966–1967		Liberal
43	Robert McCready MLA for Bathurst (1921–1995)	1968–1970		Liberal	46th
44	Lawrence Garvie MLA for Fredericton (1933–2011)	1971–1973		Progressive Conservative	47th
45	William J. Woodroffe MLA for Saint John East (until 1974) MLA for Saint John-Fundy (from 1974) (1933–2003)	1973–1978		Progressive Conservative
					48th
(43)	Robert McCready MLA for Queens South (1921–1995)	1979–1980		Liberal	49th
46	James N. Tucker Jr. MLA for Charlotte-Fundy (born 1934)	1981–1985		Progressive Conservative
					50th
47	Charles Gallagher MLA for Carleton North (1925–2007)	1985–1987		Progressive Conservative
48	Frank Branch MLA for Nepisiguit-Chaleur (1944–2018)	1987–1991		Liberal	51st
49	Shirley Dysart MLA for Saint John Park (1928–2016)	1991–1994		Liberal	52nd
50	Gérald Clavette MLA for Madawaska Centre (born 1941)	1994		Liberal
(49)	Shirley Dysart MLA for Saint John Park (1928–2016)	1994–1995		Liberal
51	Danny Gay MLA for Miramichi Bay (born 1950)	1995–1998		Liberal	53rd
52	John McKay MLA for Miramichi Centre (born 1948)	1998–1999		Liberal
53	Bev Harrison MLA for Hampton-Belleisle (born 1942)	1999–2006		Progressive Conservative	54th
					55th
54	Michael Malley MLA for Miramichi-Bay du Vin (born 1962)	2006		Progressive Conservative
55	Eugene McGinley MLA for Grand Lake-Gagetown (1935–2019)	2007		Liberal	56th
56	Roy Boudreau MLA for Campbellton-Restigouche Centre (1946–2023)	2007–2010		Liberal
57	Dale Graham MLA for Carleton (born 1951)	2010–2014		Progressive Conservative	57th
58	Chris Collins MLA for Moncton Centre (born 1951)	2014–2018		Liberal	58th
59	Daniel Guitard MLA for Restigouche-Chaleur (born 1959)	2018–2020		Liberal	59th
60	Bill Oliver MLA for Kings Centre (born 1959)	2020–present		Progressive Conservative	60th

References

• The Evolving Speakership, Canadian Parliamentary Review