THE SENATE — The Honourable Raymonde Gagné, C.M.
Congratulations on Appointment as Speaker
May 16, 2023
I rise today to congratulate you on your appointment as the Forty-sixth Speaker of the Senate of Canada. I am confident that you will preside over this chamber with the same fairness, integrity and respect for the institution and for your colleagues that have characterized your work since you were appointed to the Senate and in your capacity as Legislative Deputy.
Speaker Gagné, you began your career teaching in a small school in rural Manitoba. You then became its principal, and before your appointment to the Senate, you capped a long and illustrious career in education as President of the Université de Saint-Boniface between 2003 and 2014.
You have also been an outstanding advocate for minority language rights, and an important representative for Franco-Manitobans and minority-language communities across the country. Your legacy is etched in your many contributions to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages and to the important studies it undertook. Indeed, the first message from the other place that you will be reading today will be on Bill C-13, an act for the substantive equality of Canada’s official languages. Madam Speaker, I cannot think of a more fitting message.
Madam Speaker, it has been a great privilege for me to work closely with you. Over the past three and a half years, I have benefited from your wise counsel and your knowledge and respect for the Senate as an institution, including as it relates to the importance of continuing our modernization efforts.
You are a trusted colleague and friend who will be missed by Senator LaBoucane-Benson and the entire team in the Government Representative Office. At the same time, I’m filled with pride and gratitude that you’ve accepted this appointment. I know the Senate is in good hands.
As the Government Representative in the Senate, I look forward to renewing our working relationship as well as working with the opposition, the various groups and all unaffiliated senators in the service of Canadians. Once again, Madam Speaker, let me offer my sincere congratulations.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the opposition and the Conservative caucus, I wish to congratulate you on your new appointment as Speaker of the Senate of Canada.
Indeed, I am pleased to see a Manitoban colleague take on this historical responsibility as Canada’s Forty-sixth Speaker of Senate. As has already been mentioned, you are the second Manitoban to become Speaker. The first was Senator Molgat of Ste. Rose du Lac from 1994 to 2001.
On a personal note, Madam Speaker, because of your new role, I will miss some of the times we had in airport lounges visiting and having a cup of coffee before we would fly to Ottawa and Friday mornings before returning to Manitoba. I remember fondly not the days of COVID but the days when you and I travelled together, just the two of us, back and forth from Winnipeg to Ottawa. It was a great opportunity to get to know you on a personal level.
Madam Speaker, short of being a good Conservative, I believe that you are, indeed, the best choice the Prime Minister could have made as Speaker of the Senate. I find myself in uncharted territory in agreeing with the Prime Minister of Canada.
Colleagues, our new Speaker has demonstrated her steady hand in her previous roles as a senator and as Deputy Leader of the Government. In those roles, she has shown a level-headed yet deliberate and concise manner, and I know she will do the same as Speaker.
Madam Speaker, your calmness and sensible character make you a natural fit to be a great Speaker. I am a bit of a traditionalist — as you know and as other colleagues know — and I am always saddened when we break with tradition, which we did to some extent today. However, Madam Speaker, as I said in my congratulatory note to you on Friday, we promise to play nice and to be good for a short period of time before we will test your strength.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the opposition, the Conservative caucus and all my colleagues, we truly wish you well in your new responsibility. We look forward to working with you and with other members of this august chamber as a collaborative and congenial opposition. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I respectfully refer to you as such as you are the first female Speaker in 44 years and only the third in the history of the Senate, which was established in November 1867. That is something to be very proud of. I note that you will be part of an all-female team together with our Speaker pro tempore, the Honourable Pierrette Ringuette, who, I’m sure, will ably support you in carrying out your new and important duties.
Thanks to your career in this chamber, your integrity, your humility and sense of democracy, you deserve our confidence in presiding over our proceedings. You and your predecessor have solid experience in education, which is an asset for the office of Speaker of the Senate.
Your career was marked by commitment to public service, a commitment that you’ve shown in the Senate since 2016. With this experience, you will now serve the entire institution, and I know that you will do so with your characteristic integrity.
I would now like to speak to some of the lessons that Speaker Furey left with us in his farewell address:
Honourable senators, let us always remember that our calling to this chamber is an honourable one. Let us always remember in our debates that disagreements must be debated, even vigorously at times, but never — never — personally. Disparaging individuals adds nothing to debate, but indeed denigrates the Senate as a whole.
Speaker Gagné, you embody the spirit of this message with your dignity, humbleness and integrity. I know that these teachings will find their echo with you, and that you will pursue the legacy of our former Speaker while creating your own.
Speaker Gagné, Forty-sixth Speaker of the Senate, please know that you can count on the collaboration, understanding and support of the Independent Senators Group in the fulfillment of your duties. We will stand by your side in contributing to the respect of democratic values, the modernization of our institution, the promotion of collegiality among ourselves and the respect of order and decorum in our deliberations.
Congratulations.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues in the Canadian Senators Group, I congratulate you on your appointment as our new Speaker.
According to the Senate’s website, the Speaker “. . . ensures proceedings run smoothly.” At times, that can be a tall order here. Your past experience as chair of numerous organizations — such as the Council of Presidents of Universities in Manitoba and the Association of Canadian Francophone Colleges and Universities — will serve you well as our new presiding officer. However, I think it is your experience in a classroom and as a principal that will give you the best transferable skills for your new job here in the chamber.
As our Speaker, you will be asked to be the public face of the Senate and to act as our chief diplomat abroad. I am certain that you are up to the job and that you will carry out your duties with the same dedication and commitment you have shown throughout your career in this place and before being called to the Senate.
I do have a special wish for you, Madam Speaker. I hope that your transition goes a little smoother than that of your predecessor. I distinctly remember that, by his third day on the job, two questions of privilege and a point of order were raised. It is our hope that we will permit you to ease well into the job.
On a final note, I, for one — and I know others as well — will miss your musical ending of each Senate sitting day with the motion, “that the Senate do now adjourn.”
Congratulations, Madam Speaker. We look forward to working with you.
Honourable senators, on behalf of the Progressive Senate Group, I am delighted to join the other leaders in congratulating the Honourable Raymonde Gagné, who will serve as the Forty-sixth Speaker of the Senate.
As others have mentioned, Senator Gagné is only the third woman to fulfill this role, the second Manitoban and the first woman from Manitoba. This will also mark the first time that both the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker pro tempore are women.
Senator Gagné, when I came to the Senate, Manitoban Gil Molgat was the Speaker, and since I’m due to retire in 2025, it will be another Manitoban when I retire, so I guess I have Manitoba bookends.
Senator Gagné, I know that your background as a teacher will have prepared you well for the task that lies ahead when presiding over our proceedings. With the news of your appointment, the Prime Minister noted your “reputation for productive, objective, and balanced insights,” and from listening to the other leaders, I think it’s fair to say that he is not alone in those views. The Prime Minister has made an excellent choice in appointing you as our new Speaker.
The Senate has been experiencing a period of adjustment, as we navigate various changes and try to find a new path forward. We may not all share the same vision of how to improve, but I do know that we all want to serve our communities as best we can. Senator Gagné, you admirably serve the people of Manitoba, and particularly Franco-Manitobans. In your maiden speech here, you said that Franco-Manitobans have a legacy of defending:
. . . the idea of a Canada that unites and brings its citizens together, while fully respecting their differences and their rights.
I can’t think of a much better sentiment to describe you, our new Speaker. Whether within this chamber or through your various new diplomatic duties, I am confident that you will represent our institution with distinction.
On behalf of the Progressive Senate Group:
Congratulations, Madam Speaker.
