Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick

Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English 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	rowspan="5" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	1st
			2nd
			3rd
			4th
			5th
2	John Robinson MLA for Saint John City (1762–1828)	1813–1816		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
3	William Botsford MLA for Westmorland (1773–1864)	1817–1823	rowspan="3" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	6th
			7th
			8th
4	Ward Chipman Jr. MLA for Saint John County (1787–1851)	1824–1825		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
5	Harry Peters MLA for Saint John City (1788–1870)	1826–1827		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
6	Richard Simonds MLA for Northumberland (1789–1836)	1828	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	9th
7	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1829–1830	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
			10th
8	William Crane MLA for Westmorland (1785–1853)	1831–1834		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1835–1842	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	11th
			12th
9	John Wesley Weldon MLA for Kent (1809–1885)	1843–1850	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	13th
			14th
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1851	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	15th
(8)	William Crane MLA for Westmorland (1785–1853)	1852–1853	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
10	Daniel Hanington MLA for Westmorland (1804–1889)	1853–1856	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
			16th
(7)	Charles Simonds MLA for Saint John County (1783–1859)	1856–1857	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	17th
11	James A. Harding MLA for Saint John City (1820–1893)	1857–1858	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	18th
12	John Mercer Johnson MLA for Northumberland (1818–1868)	1859–1862	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
			19th
13	John Campbell Allen MLA for York (1817–1898)	1863–1864		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
14	Edwin Arnold Vail MLA for Kings (1817–1885)	1865–1866	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	20th
15	John Hamilton Gray MLA for Saint John County (1814–1889)	1866–1867	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	21st
16	Bliss Botsford MLA for Westmorland (1813–1890)	1868–1870	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
(14)	Edwin Arnold Vail MLA for Kings (1817–1885)	1871–1874	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	22nd
17	William Wedderburn MLA for Saint John City (1834–1918)	1875–1878	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	23rd
18	Benjamin Robert Stephenson MLA for Charlotte (1835–1890)	1879–1882	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	24th
19	James E. Lynott MLA for Charlotte (1839–1890)	1883–1886	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	25th
20	William Pugsley MLA for Kings (1850–1925)	1887–1889	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	26th
21	Albert Scott White MLA for Kings (1855–1931)	1890–1892	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	27th
22	John Percival Burchill MLA for Northumberland (1855–1923)	1893–1899	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	28th
			29th
23	Clifford William Robinson MLA for Westmorland (1866–1944)	1901–1907	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	30th
			31st
24	Charles J. Osman MLA for Albert (1851–1922)	1907		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
25	Donald Morrison MLA for Northumberland (1852–1920)	1908	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent	32nd
26	George Johnson Clarke MLA for Charlotte (1857–1917)	1909–1914	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
			33rd
27	Walter B. Dickson MLA for Albert (1847–1916)	1914–1916		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
28	Olivier-Maximin Melanson MLA for Westmorland (1854–1926)	1916		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Independent
29	William Currie MLA for Restigouche (1862–1934)	1917–1918	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	34th
30	Judson Hetherington MLA for Queens (1866–1928)	1919–1920	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
31	Allison Dysart MLA for Kent (1880–1962)	1921–1925	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	35th
32	Joseph Leonard O'Brien MLA for Northumberland (1895–1973)	1926–1930	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Conservative	36th
33	Frederick C. Squires MLA for Carleton (1881–1960)	1931–1935	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Conservative	37th
34	Hedley Francis Gregory Bridges MLA for Restigouche (1902–1947)	1936–1938	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	38th
35	Frederic McGrand MLA for Queens (1895–1988)	1940–1944	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	39th
36	Harry O. Downey MLA for Albert (1897–1974)	1945–1952	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	40th
			41st
37	Elmor T. Kennedy MLA for Kings (1885–1953)	1953	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative	42nd
38	Walter Powers MLA for Victoria (1895–1954)	1954	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
39	J. Arthur Moore MLA for Queens (1891–1979)	1955–1960	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
			43rd
40	Ernest Richard MLA for Gloucester (1922–2006)	1960–1963	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	44th
41	Bernard Jean MLA for Gloucester (1925–2012)	1963–1966	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	45th
42	H. H. Williamson MLA for Gloucester (1916–1972)	1966–1967	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
43	Robert McCready MLA for Bathurst (1921–1995)	1968–1970	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	46th
44	Lawrence Garvie MLA for Fredericton (1933–2011)	1971–1973	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	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	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
			48th
(43)	Robert McCready MLA for Queens South (1921–1995)	1979–1980	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	49th
46	James N. Tucker Jr. MLA for Charlotte-Fundy (born 1934)	1981–1985	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
			50th
47	Charles Gallagher MLA for Carleton North (1925–2007)	1985–1987		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
48	Frank Branch MLA for Nepisiguit-Chaleur (1944–2018)	1987–1991	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	51st
49	Shirley Dysart MLA for Saint John Park (1928–2016)	1991–1994	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	52nd
50	Gérald Clavette MLA for Madawaska Centre (born 1941)	1994	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
(49)	Shirley Dysart MLA for Saint John Park (1928–2016)	1994–1995	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
51	Danny Gay MLA for Miramichi Bay (born 1950)	1995–1998	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	53rd
52	John McKay MLA for Miramichi Centre (born 1948)	1998–1999	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
53	Bev Harrison MLA for Hampton-Belleisle (born 1942)	1999–2006	rowspan="2" style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative	54th
			55th
54	Michael Malley MLA for Miramichi-Bay du Vin (born 1962)	2006		style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative
55	Eugene McGinley MLA for Grand Lake-Gagetown (1935–2019)	2007	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	56th
56	Roy Boudreau MLA for Campbellton-Restigouche Centre (1946–2023)	2007–2010	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal
57	Dale Graham MLA for Carleton (born 1951)	2010–2014	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative	57th
58	Chris Collins MLA for Moncton Centre (born 1951)	2014–2018	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	58th
59	Daniel Guitard MLA for Restigouche-Chaleur (born 1959)	2018–2020	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	59th
60	Bill Oliver MLA for Kings Centre (born 1959)	2020–2024	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Progressive Conservative	60th
61	Francine Landry MLA for Madawaska Les Lacs-Edmundston (born 1959)	2024–present	style="width:1px; background:Template:Canadian party colour; " |	Liberal	61st

References

• The Evolving Speakership, Canadian Parliamentary Review