John Allen Fraser, who was first elected Speaker of the House of Representatives by secret ballot, has died. He was 92 years old.
Fraser was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party and served as MP for Vancouver South from 1972 to 1993.
Until the 1980s, the Speaker was appointed by the Prime Minister and simply rubber-stamped by MPs.
Reforms were introduced in 1986, giving MPs a direct say in who oversees the affairs and business of the House of Commons. Fraser won the first election for chair in September of the same year on the 11th ballot. He held that position until his retirement in 1993.
In 1986, Progressive Conservative MP John Fraser was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. It was the first time that members of the Diet elected a speaker by secret ballot.
“Many of his decisions created fundamental interpretations of modern rules and redefined good practice in our chamber today,” current chair Greg Fergus said in a media statement.
Before becoming Speaker, Mr Fraser held two cabinet positions under two different Prime Ministers.
He first served as Environment Minister in the short-lived Joe Clark government. Mr Fraser later became Minister of Fisheries in the late Brian Mulroney’s government. He resigned from that position in 1985. overturned the health inspector’s decision Declaring large amounts of tuna unfit for human consumption.
Fraser was an officer in the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia.
