What is the significance of the Speaker's chair in Parliament?

The Speaker of the House of Commons sits in an ornate oak chair at the front of the Commons chamber, between the government and opposition benches, and presides over debate. The current Speaker's chair, installed in the rebuilt Centre Block in 1921, is a gift from the United Kingdom's House of Commons, presented in gratitude after Canadian troops served in the First World War. It is a near-replica of the Westminster Speaker's chair destroyed in the Blitz in 1941.

The chair itself is hewn from oak salvaged from the Westminster Hall roof and from Nelson's flagship HMS Victory. The carvings include the arms of Canada and the United Kingdom, the floral emblems of the founding peoples, and the names of the British and Canadian Speakers serving at the time of the gift. A canopy above the chair carries the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, elected by secret ballot of all MPs at the start of each new Parliament under a procedure established in 1985, presides over Question Period each weekday afternoon, rules on points of order and privilege, and casts a tie-breaking vote when needed. The Senate has its own Speaker, traditionally appointed by the Prime Minister, who sits in a separate chair on the throne dais of the Senate Chamber.

The Speaker's chair has its own ceremonial life. At the start of each sitting the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons carries the Mace of the House (a five-foot gilded silver staff dating from 1916, replacing one lost in the 1916 fire) and lays it across the Table in front of the chair. When Parliament is sitting the Mace lies horizontally; when not in session, the Mace is taken back to the Speaker's office. The chair appears on Canadian one-dollar coins issued to commemorate Parliament's 125th anniversary in 1992.