Our Meeting With Speaker Skelly

The interns had the distinct opportunity to meet with Speaker Skelly, the first woman elected as speaker to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario! She was first elected in 2018 to the electoral district of Flamborough—Glanbrook with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. 

We discussed how Speaker Skelly has been finding her time in her new role. We also shared with the Speaker our observations with regards to decorum in the House, and particularly the differences we noted in Question Period at the Ontario legislature, and when visiting other jurisdictions such as Ottawa, Quebec City, and Yellowknife. Speaker Skelly emphasized the importance of her role in enforcing procedure in the legislative chambers. She shared with us that despite her taking on her new role as Speaker, she hopes to continue her advocacy efforts, particularly as it pertains to advocating for communities in Northern Ontario and pushing for the end of human trafficking. Like many MPPs, Speaker Skelly emphasized that constituency is at the heart of her work as an MPP. 

We were intrigued to learn about Speaker Skelly’s entry into politics after a successful 30-year career in broadcast journalism. Prior to entering politics, she worked as a journalist with CHCH-TV in Hamilton, anchoring and producing local and regional television newscasts. She shared anecdotes about her experiences in investigative journalism and as a war correspondent. Finally, we were grateful to hear Speaker Skelly’s perspectives on maintaining cross-party relations and even friendships with other MPPs. Thank you, Speaker Skelly, for taking the time to meet with us!