The Speaker

Donna has represented the Hamilton riding of Flamborough—Glanbrook since 2018. She is an enthusiastic and outspoken advocate for constituents, fighting to make life more affordable for people across the province. 

She is a passionate advocate for human trafficking prevention and awareness and has worked with Commonwealth Nations to help combat this horrific crime worldwide. She also advocated for legislative changes to protect children against sex trafficking by including child sex traffickers on the Ontario Sex Offender Registry.

Prior to her election as Speaker, Donna was the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, and Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. She has also served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General and to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Before entering provincial politics, Donna served on Hamilton City Council where she served on the Audit, Finance and Administration Committee, Mayor’s Intelligent Community Sub-Committee, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton Arts Council, and the Hamilton Status of Women Committee. She also served on the National Advisory Board for Canadian Culture, as well as Banyan Community Services, a not-for-profit agency that works with youth at risk.

Donna entered politics after a successful 30-year career in broadcast journalism. She has worked across Ontario and Quebec at media outlets such as CHIP-FM Radio in Fort Coulonge, Quebec; CHRO TV Radio in Pembroke; CKWS-TV in Kingston; and CHCH in Hamilton.

Donna is a graduate of the broadcast journalism program at Seneca College in Toronto. She has a keen understanding of the strengths and challenges facing communities across the province and works tirelessly on behalf of her constituents to make life better now and for future generations.
 

Donna was recognized for her contribution to her community when she was named the YWCA Woman of the Year in Politics.

The House sits too often for the Speaker to preside over all the proceedings each day. To fulfill the role when the Speaker can’t be in the Chamber, the MPPs elect from among themselves several deputy presiding officers.

Currently, the Legislature has four deputies. Each of these deputies has all of the procedural authority of the Speaker when they are acting in the Speaker’s place.  

First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Jennifer French, MPP

Jennifer French has been an MPP since 2014 and represents the riding of Oshawa. She was appointed as First Deputy Chair in 2025.

Second Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Ric Bresee, MPP

Ric Bresee has been an MPP since 2022 and represents the riding of Hastings—Lennox and Addington. He was appointed as Second Deputy Chair in 2025.

Third Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Whole House, Andrea Hazell, MPP

Andrea Hazell has been an MPP since 2023 and represents the riding of Scarborough—Guildwood. She was appointed as Third Deputy Chair in 2025.

Table officers

In front of the Speaker’s chair in the Chamber is a table, called the Clerk’s table, or just the Table. The people who sit there are table officers: experts in parliamentary procedure. They provide non-partisan, confidential advice to the Speaker and all MPPs.

As presiding officer of the House, the Speaker’s role is at the heart of Ontario’s parliamentary system. The Speaker serves the House by overseeing its meetings, enforcing its rules, and maintaining order and decorum. The role requires the Speaker to be fair and impartial and to make sure that the House is able to conduct debates respectfully.

The Speaker is the head of the Office of the Legislative Assembly, a non-partisan office that supports the work of all MPPs. The Speaker also has a ceremonial and diplomatic role: welcoming visiting dignitaries to the Legislative Building and representing the Legislature across Canada and abroad.

The Speaker is the neutral, non-partisan presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly. Although the Speaker is an MPP, they don’t serve any political party or the Crown; they are responsible to the House as a whole. 

The Speaker doesn’t need to give up their party membership when they are elected, but they don’t attend caucus meetings or political events. They also don’t cast votes in the House unless there is a tie, and they don’t participate in debates. 

In the Chamber

The Speaker enforces and interprets the House’s rules as laid out in the standing orders, and their rulings can’t be appealed. When there is a situation that the standing orders don’t cover, the Speaker makes a decision based on precedent. 

It is part of their job to maintain order and decorum in the House. If an MPP is disrupting order—for example, by using unparliamentary language or making personal attacks on other MPPs—the Speaker can “call them to order.” If the MPP continues to disregard the Speaker’s authority, the Speaker can “name” them, removing them from the Chamber.

Out of the Chamber

The Speaker is the head of the Office of the Legislative Assembly, which provides MPPs with non-partisan support and services, and also chairs the Board of Internal Economy, which controls that office’s finances.

The Speaker also serves a ceremonial and diplomatic role as the Legislature’s representative, whether welcoming dignitaries to the Legislative Building, or representing the Legislature across Canada and abroad.

Election of the Speaker

At the start of a Parliament, before any other work is done, the MPPs elect a Speaker by secret ballot. Any MPP (except for party leaders and cabinet ministers) can nominate any other MPP. 

Once a Speaker has been elected by majority vote, the MPPs who nominated them and seconded their nomination will escort them to the dais, where the Speaker’s chair is. 

It’s a long-standing tradition that the new Speaker feigns resistance as they are escorted, in honour of the dangerous history of the role. In the early days of the British House of Commons, the Speaker could be beheaded if the monarch didn’t like the news they brought from Parliament.

Ontario’s MPPs have elected their Speakers by secret ballot since 1990. Speakers before 1990 were appointed by the governing party.