On Tuesday, Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Greg Fergus was elected as Canada’s 38th Speaker of the House, making him the first Black Canadian to hold the position.
READ MORE: First Black Canadian elected as Speaker of House of Commons
Following the vote, he was physically “dragged” to the Speaker’s chair in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre. The new speaker being dragged to their seat is an old tradition, but one that had many Canadians online confused.
Every time a new person is selected to become Speaker of the House the winner is dragged to the chair, a tradition that stems from the United Kingdom and dates back hundreds of years.
Historically, the U.K.’s Speaker of the House was responsible for relaying opinions from the House of Commons to the reigning king or queen. Throughout history, if the monarch had a problem with the message delivered by the Speaker, that official could be killed as a result. This naturally led to people being hesitant to accept the role and subsequently being dragged to their chair when given the position.
According to the U.K. Parliament, seven Speakers were executed between 1394 and 1535, hence the reason why some were reluctant to step into the new job.
