Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is an honour for me to stand before my dear colleagues today on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people to say a few words on my candidacy for Speaker of the House of Commons in the ongoing 44th Parliament.

I would first like to express my sincere thanks to the member of Parliament for Nipissing—Timiskaming for all the work that he accomplished as Speaker of the House of Commons over the last four years. It has not been easy any one of those days.

I am addressing you, hon. colleagues, for the second time as candidate for the position of Speaker. Since 2021, some of us have left and others have recently arrived.

Colleagues, today I am running to be your Speaker. My last two years as Deputy Speaker of the House has confirmed my deep desire to continue to work as your Speaker. My experience will assist you in the discharging of your responsibilities.

Since my election to the House of Commons in 2019, I have gotten to know quite a few of you, from all parties. I have taken that duty to heart ever since I was named Deputy Speaker in 2021. I thank you all for the great talks. I intend to maintain this approach regardless of the vote's result, because friendship must prevail in the House.

Hon. colleagues, I have heard you. Like many of you, I want to restore this august place's reputation. It is the Speaker's duty to put respect for each other, for our Standing Orders, for decorum and for procedures at the centre of our proceedings. I am convinced that I will successfully fulfill the Speaker's duties and make sure that the powers and privileges of the House are top priorities.

We must carry out our duties with diligence, honesty and respect. You can count on me to lead by example. I will exercise my functions in a fair, non-partisan and firm manner, as it is important for me to protect the right to speak for each one of you in this place.

As many of you know by now, I have a very calm French Canadian demeanour and work well with others. In fact, these are traits that are strongly tied to my deep Acadian roots, as we Nova Scotian Acadians learned, once we returned home from exile, to remain calm and non-confrontational and to continuously strive for consensus no matter the situation we find ourselves in.

Let us remember that the last few years have been difficult, and we have faced many challenges. Last week was incredible. Canadians are currently going through a lot and looking for stability and strong leadership at the core of our country's democracy.

In this regard, I wish to lead an all-party approach and put my skills, ability and experience to work to enable hon. members to navigate the House of Commons in the safest and most effective way possible while you fulfill your very important responsibilities to Canadians.

As we rise to the many challenges we face, I know that I can make a valuable contribution by uniting, rather than dividing, the members of this chamber. The Speaker is responsible for ensuring respect for members of every party as well as their strengths and values.

Canada is a bilingual nation, and the Speaker of the House must also be bilingual. However, beyond the ability to speak both official languages, the Speaker must have a firm grasp of the unique linguistic and cultural characteristics of the people who call these languages their own. I can meet this imperative.

We know as elected representatives of this chamber, it is our duty to ensure the health of our democracy is preserved and always well-respected. It is up to us to elect a Speaker who will truly be a guardian of this chamber. The Speaker has the responsibility and privilege to lead by example at all times by being a Speaker who has a good handle of the rules, and who can quickly make decisions so meaningful, structured debate can happen.

Whether this Parliament ends in a few months or two years, I want to make sure that the work and values of the House align with Canadians' expectations of the institution at the heart of our democracy. Above all, I want to ensure that each one of you can look back when this parliamentary session is over and proudly say that it was productive, positive and respectful.

It has been an honour to serve as your Deputy Speaker for the past two years. It would be an honour to become your Speaker, to support you in your very important responsibilities. Colleagues, I humbly ask for your vote today.

Colleagues, I humbly ask that you vote for me today.

I could maybe say that one of the first honours of duty, for whoever becomes Speaker today, would be to bring down the heat, and I mean the temperature because, my goodness, it is hot in here today.

Thank you and have a nice day.

I look forward to your vote.

Chris d'Entremont

$558,521.00