Anthony Michael Gerard Rota (born May 15, 1961) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who is the 37th and current speaker of the House of Commons of Canada since 2019. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, he currently serves as the

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the riding of

Nipissing—Timiskaming Nipissing—Timiskaming is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The riding was formed by the amalgamation of the former Nipissing riding with the southeastern ...

. 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.

Early life and career

Born in

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

, Rota holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

, a diploma in finance from

Algonquin College Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upst ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

degree from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

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

sessional lecturer at

Nipissing University , mottoeng = Spirit of Integrity , established = , former_names = Northeastern University (1960-1967), Nipissing College (1967-1992) , type = Public University , academic_affiliation = COU, CVU, Universities Canada , endowment ...

Political career

Rota began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a city councillor for

North Bay City Council North Bay City Council is the governing body of the city of North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Unlike many Canadian city councils, North Bay does not elect its council on a ward system. Instead, all councillors are elected at-large, and the ten candidat ...

and chairing the city's planning and economic development committee. He won the federal Liberal 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 Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate

Al McDonald Al McDonald is a politician in Ontario, Canada, who was mayor of North Bay, Ontario from 2010 to 2022. He was previously a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2002 to 2003, and ran unsuccessfully for th ...

. Rota was re-elected in the 2006 election, defeating the Conservative Party's Peter Chirico, the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

's Dave Fluri, and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

's Meg Purdy. In the 2008 election, he was again re-elected. He served as the Liberal Party caucus chair, and as critic for the

Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, diversification, and job creation specific to their respective regi ...

. He ran again in the 2011 election but lost by just 14 votes to

Jay Aspin Jay Aspin (born August 19, 1949) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming from 2011 to 2015. Aspin was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the Conservative Party of C ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Due to the narrow margin, however, an automatic judicial recount was required, confirming the margin at 18 votes. After his 2011 loss, Rota began teaching at

in North Bay, Ontario. In the 2015 election, he was again the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate, defeating Aspin and once again becoming the MP in the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

. On December 9, 2015, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole. Rota was re-elected in the 2019 election. He was also elected as 37th

speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

on December 5, 2019, by winning a ranked ballot between himself,

Joël Godin Joël Godin (born March 14, 1965) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 election from the district of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. He is a former municipal councillor in Saint-Joachim, Quebec ...

, Carol Hughes,

Geoff Regan Geoffrey Paul Regan (born 22 November 1959) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 36th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

(the speaker during the previous Parliament) and

Bruce Stanton Ronald Bruce Stanton (born December 20, 1957) is a Canadian politician who served as Member of Parliament for the riding of Simcoe North from 2006 to 2021. Stanton first ran as a member of the Conservative Party in the 2006 federal election an ...

. Following Rota's win, the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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. On June 17, 2020, Rota ordered that

Leader Jagmeet Singh be removed from the House of Commons after referring to Bloc Québécois MP

Alain Therrien Alain Therrien (born July 6, 1966) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of La Prairie in the 2019 federal election as a member of the Bloc Québécois. Prior to entering federal politics, he served as a member of th ...

as a racist. On November 22, 2021, Rota was re-elected as the speaker of the House of Commons.

Electoral record

Arms

References

External links

View Anthony Rota
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rota, Anthony 1961 births Canadian people of Italian descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario North Bay, Ontario city councillors Algonquin College alumni University of Ottawa alumni Wilfrid Laurier University alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians Speakers of the House of Commons of Canada