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Anthony Rota

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Anthony Rota
MP
Rota in 2023
37th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada
In office
December 5, 2019 – September 27, 2023
Monarchs
Governors General
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byGeoff Regan
Succeeded byGreg Fergus[1]
Member of Parliament
for Nipissing—Timiskaming
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byJay Aspin
In office
June 28, 2004 – May 2, 2011
Preceded byBob Wood
Succeeded byJay Aspin
Chairman of the COVID-19 Committee
In office
April 20, 2020 – June 18, 2020
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice de-established
Personal details
Born
Anthony Michael Gerard Rota

(1961-05-15) May 15, 1961 (age 63)
North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
SpouseChantal Piché-Rota
ChildrenSamantha
Residence(s)North Bay, Ontario
Profession
  • Administrator
  • business advisor

Anthony Michael Gerard Rota MP (born May 15, 1961) is a Canadian politician who served as the 37th speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2019 until his resignation in 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, he currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. He previously represented Nipissing—Timiskaming as MP from 2004 to 2011. In 2019, he was elected by the House of Commons to be the speaker in the 43rd Parliament and in 2021 was re-elected in the 44th Parliament.

On September 27, 2023, he resigned as speaker due to the honouring of former Waffen-SS "Galicia" Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunka in the House of Commons, triggering the 2023 speakership election.

Early life and career

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Rota was born in North Bay, Ontario in 1961, to a family from Cosenza, Italy.[2] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Wilfrid Laurier University, a diploma in finance from Algonquin College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Ottawa.

Prior to his election, Rota worked for the Industrial Research Assistance Program as regional manager for Ontario. He has also served with the Canadian Technology Network in Ottawa and has worked in the private sector. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Political career

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Rota began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a city councillor for North Bay City Council from 1994 to 1997, chairing the city's planning and economic development committee. He won the federal Liberal Party of Canada nomination for Nipissing—Timiskaming in early 2004, defeating rival candidates Susan Church, Hugh McLachlan and Joe Sinicrope with 52% on the second ballot. In the general election held in June of that year, he narrowly defeated Conservative candidate Al McDonald.

Rota was reelected in the 2006 election, defeating the Conservative Party's Peter Chirico, the NDP's Dave Fluri, and the Green Party's Meg Purdy. In the 2008 election, he was again reelected. He served as the Liberal Party caucus chair, and as critic for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario.

Rota ran again in the 2011 election and lost by a reported 14 votes to Jay Aspin of the Conservative Party.[3] Due to the narrow margin, an automatic judicial recount was required, confirming the margin at 18 votes.[4] After his 2011 loss, he began teaching at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario.

In the 2015 election, Rota was again the Liberal candidate, defeating Aspin to again become an MP in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.[5] On December 9, 2015, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole. He was reelected in the 2019 election.[6]

As Speaker of the House of Commons

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Following the 2019 Federal Election, during the 43rd Canadian Parliament he was elected as 37th speaker of the House of Commons on December 5, 2019, by winning a ranked ballot between himself, Joël Godin, Carol Hughes, Geoff Regan (the speaker during the previous Parliament) and Bruce Stanton.[7] Following Rota's win, the Conservatives said that he had them to thank for his new position. They had made the decision to unseat Regan as a show of strength during a caucus meeting. They did so by ranking Regan further down on the ranked ballot.[8][9]

On June 17, 2020, Rota ordered that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh be removed from the House of Commons after referring to Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien as a racist.[10]

Document disclosure court challenge

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In July 2021, the Liberal government took the unprecedented step of taking Speaker Rota to court after Rota ruled that the government did not have the legal authority to withhold documents requested by members of Parliament. The documents requested related to the transfer of samples of the level 4 viruses from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the lab's dismissal of two of its scientists.

Subsequently, Speaker Rota reprimanded Iain Stewart, the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada for PHAC's "contempt" of Parliament, after Stewart failed to comply with multiple House and Commons committee orders to produce these unredacted documents.

The Liberal government’s legal challenge centered on whether or not courts can overrule the Parliamentary powers under the Westminster system. Speaker Rota had upheld the principle that the judiciary has no jurisdiction over the operations of the House and that only Parliament can decide how the law applies to its institutions.

Rota with Sergio Mattarella in Italy in 2023

The Liberal government subsequently dropped the court application after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called an election in August, dissolving Parliament and thus terminating all business before the House, including the orders to produce the PHAC documents.[11][12]

On November 22, 2021, Rota was reelected as the speaker of the House of Commons.[13]

Scandal and resignation

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Main article: Yaroslav Hunka scandal

On September 22, 2023, following an address to the Canadian parliament by visiting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rota introduced and recognized Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian-Canadian retiree from North Bay, in the parliamentary galleries. He identified Hunka as a "war hero" who fought for the First Ukrainian Division, saying, "We have here in the chamber today a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98. His name is Yaroslav Hunka. I am very proud to say that he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. He is a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service. Thank you."[14] Following Rota's introduction, Hunka was applauded with two standing ovations by members of all parties.

Subsequent media reports identified Hunka as a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division (also known as the 1st Galician Division) of Nazi Germany's Waffen-SS during the Second World War; the unit was responsible for anti-partisan reprisals in Poland, Slovakia and the Austria–Slovenia border. Rota issued an apology two days after his initial statement, saying, "In my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognized an individual in the gallery. I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so." Rota apologized to "Jewish communities in Canada and around the world" and accepted responsibility for his action, saying that neither the Ukrainian delegation nor other MPs were aware that he would recognize Hunka.[15][16][17] The next day, he faced increasing demands from political parties and organizations to resign.[18][19]

On September 26, Rota announced his resignation as House Speaker, effective on September 27.[20][21] Rota was the seventh House Speaker to resign in Canadian history, and the first to do so since John Bosley in 1986.[22]

Electoral record

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Federal

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2021 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Anthony Rota 18,405 38.8 -1.8 $97,413.97
Conservative Steven Trahan 15,104 31.8 +4.8 $85,201.35
New Democratic Scott Robertson 10,493 22.1 +1.6 $14,631.29
People's Gregory J. Galante 3,494 7.4 +2.2 $16,450.54
Total valid votes 47,496
Total rejected ballots 337
Turnout 47,833 63.20
Eligible voters 75,689
Source: Elections Canada[23]
2019 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Anthony Rota 19,352 40.55 –11.33 $105,794.62
Conservative Jordy Carr 12,984 27.20 –2.10 $86,210.82
New Democratic Rob Boulet 9,784 20.50 +4.26 $8,883.76
Green Alex Gomm 3,111 6.52 +3.95 none listed
People's Mark King 2,496 5.23 n/a $24,007.08
Total valid votes/expense limit 47,727 99.15
Total rejected ballots 407 0.85 +0.39
Turnout 48,134 64.13 –4.17
Eligible voters 75,052
Liberal hold Swing –4.61
Source: Elections Canada[24][25]
2015 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Anthony Rota 25,357 51.9 +15.41 –
Conservative Jay Aspin 14,325 29.3 −7.11 –
New Democratic Kathleen Jodouin 7,936 16.2 −4.93 –
Green Nicole Peltier 1,257 2.6 −3.37 –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 48,875 100.0     $217,533.50
Total rejected ballots 224 0.45 −0.05
Turnout 49,099 69.32 +8.82
Eligible voters 70,820
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +11.26
Source: Elections Canada[26][27]
2011 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Jay Aspin 15,495 36.7 +4.4 –
Liberal Anthony Rota 15,477 36.6 −8.0 –
New Democratic Rona Eckert 8,781 20.8 +5.0 –
Green Scott Daley 2,518 6.0 −0.8 –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 42,271 100.0 –
Total rejected ballots 225 0.5 +0.1
Turnout 42,496 60.5 +6.8
Eligible voters 70,244 – –
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +6.2
This vote was subject to mandatory recount because of the margin of win being less than 1/1000 of the total votes.
2008 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Anthony Rota 18,510 44.6 –0.1 $77,997
Conservative Joe Sinicrope 13,432 32.3 –2.2 $81,801
New Democratic Dianna Allen 6,582 15.8 –1.5 $8,409
Green Craig Bridges 2,808 6.8 +3.3 $10,803
Canadian Action Andrew Moulden 204 0.5 –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 41,536 100.0 $87,383
Total rejected ballots 167 0.4 0.0
Turnout 41,703 ~58.2 −9.4
Liberal hold Swing +2.1
2006 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Anthony Rota 21,393 44.7 +2.4
Conservative Peter Chirico 16,511 34.5 –2.6
New Democratic Dave Fluri 8,268 17.3 +0.3
Green Meg Purdy 1,698 3.5 +0.4
Total valid votes 47,870 100.0
Total rejected ballots 211 0.4 −0.1
Turnout 48,081 67.6 +5.2
Liberal hold Swing +2.5
2004 Canadian federal election: Nipissing—Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Anthony Rota 18,254 42.3
Conservative Al McDonald 16,001 37.1
New Democratic Dave Fluri 7,354 17.0
Green Les Wilcox 1,329 3.1
Canadian Action Ross MacLean 204 0.5
Total valid votes 43,142 100.0
Total rejected ballots 222 0.5
Turnout 43,364 62.4

Municipal

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1994 North Bay City Council election
10 to be elected
Candidate Votes %
Lynne Bennett (X) 9,913 6.95
Anthony Rota 9,070 6.36
Peter Handley 9,055 6.35
Laurie Kidd 8,859 6.21
George Maroosis (X) 8,651 6.07
Jack Smylie (X) 8,571 6.01
Jay Aspin (X) 8,528 5.98
Wayne Poeta 8,346 5.85
Terry Talentino 7,545 5.29
Arne Schmidt (X) 7,480 5.24
Frank O'Hagan (X) 7,178 5.03
Sarah Campbell 6,902 4.84
Don King (X) 5,819 4.08
Peter Baker 5,404 3.79
Gillian Spencer 4,823 3.38
Dick Prescott 4,069 2.85
Bernie MacDonald 3,646 2.56
Preston Quirt 3,297 2.31
Gerry Cardinal 3,181 2.23
Kevin Kendall 3,037 2.13
Miles Peters 2,778 1.95
Mike Gelinas 2,310 1.62
Louis Brown 2,007 1.41
Scott Porter 1,348 0.95
Bill Philippe 814 0.57
Source:[28]

Arms

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Coat of arms of Anthony Rota
Notes
Granted 15 November 2021.[29]
Crest
A phoenix displayed wings inverted Or embellished Gules supporting the mace of the House of Commons of Canada palewise Or.
Escutcheon
Gules a wheel Or between in each corner a trillium flower Argent.
Supporters
Dexter an Italian wolf sinister an eastern wolf both standing on a rocky mount Proper set with a yin-yang symbol Argent and Sable and strewn with maple leaves Gules lilies and trillium flowers Proper.
Motto
Integritas Fidentiaque (Integrity and Resolve)

References

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  1. ^ Tasker, John (October 3, 2023). "Liberal MP Greg Fergus elected Speaker of the House of Commons". CBC. CBC. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Il viaggio alla scoperta delle sue radici di Anthony Rota, speaker della camera dei comuni canadese" (in Italian). Cosenza Channel, July 3, 2023.
  3. ^ "Sudbury-area voters part of orange wave". Sudbury Star, May 2, 2011.
  4. ^ "Official recounts triggered in two Ontario ridings" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, May 3, 2011.
  5. ^ "2015 Federal Election Results". Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  6. ^ Taschner, Eric (October 22, 2019). "Incumbent Anthony Rota re-elected for 5th term". CTV News. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  7. ^ Tunney, Catharine; Zimonjic, Peter; Harris, Kathleen (December 5, 2019). "Liberal MP Anthony Rota elected Speaker of the House of Commons". CBC News. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "Liberal MP Anthony Rota elected Speaker. You're welcome, Conservatives say". National Post. December 5, 2019. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  9. ^ "Liberal MP Anthony Rota upsets Regan to become Speaker in minority Parliament". Burnaby Now. December 5, 2019. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  10. ^ "Liberal MP Anthony Rota Boots NDP from House". Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Speaker wants information on fired scientists released, prepares to challenge Liberal government in court". Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "Federal government's move to take Speaker to court raises questions that divide experts". Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  13. ^ Pirro, Raphaël (November 22, 2021). "Anthony Rota réélu comme président de la Chambre des communes". TVA Nouvelles. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  14. ^ "House of Commons Debates". House of Commons, Canada. September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  15. ^ Ritchie, Sarah. "Jewish Groups Demand Apology". CTV News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  16. ^ "Leader of Canada's House of Commons apologizes for honoring man who fought for Nazis". AP News. September 24, 2023. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  17. ^ "Canada's house speaker apologises after praising Ukrainian veteran who fought for Nazis". The Guardian. September 25, 2023. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  18. ^ "Speaker Anthony Rota facing growing calls to resign for honouring man who fought for Nazis". Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  19. ^ "Leader of Canada's House of Commons apologizes for honoring man who fought for Nazis". Associated Press News. September 24, 2023. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Tasker, John Paul (September 26, 2023). "Anthony Rota resigns as Speaker after inviting former Ukrainian soldier with Nazi ties to Parliament". CBC. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  21. ^ "Anthony Rota resigns as House Speaker over tribute to veteran of Nazi unit - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  22. ^ "House Speaker Rota resigns after MPs call for his exit for honouring man who fought with Nazi unit". The Globe and Mail. September 26, 2023. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  23. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  24. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  25. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  26. ^ "Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Nipissing—Timiskaming, 30 September 2015". Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  27. ^ "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
  28. ^ North Bay Nugget, 15 November 1994, pg A1
  29. ^ "Anthony Michael Gerard Rota". Canadian Heraldic Authority. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
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