Greg Fergus starts his term as Speaker with high expectations

Leading Black Canadians say they hope Greg Fergus can have a positive effect on racial equality in politics in Canada — even if they don't think the new Speaker of the House of Commons can expect to have much of an effect on the tone of debate.

"Greg Fergus, while he is playing a central role, an objective role in Parliament, he does bring with himself the experiences that many Black Canadians may have gone through within their lifetime," Chris Thompson, executive director of the Federation of Black Canadians, told CBC News.

"The fact that those may be brought into the space in nuanced ways will help others to learn and embrace the great need for diversity and movement in all positions."

George Elliott Clarke, an English professor at the University of Toronto and Parliament's former poet laureate, told CBC News that the appointment of a Black Speaker is historic because it challenges a Western racial hierarchy that sees white people at the top.

"This appointment of Greg Fergus as Speaker of the House of Commons, is, of course, a major event in terms of Black Canadian History, African-Canadian history and also this history of this country," he said.

While having a person of colour take the Speaker's chair does not diversify Parliament, the bureaucracy or the country's power structures, the experts say representation still matters.

"When you grow up Black in this country, as I did, and you walk through the world and nobody in a position of authority looks like you, that's limiting to how you imagine your life progressing and what you think you can achieve as a person," said Debra Thompson, Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies at McGill.

"Having Greg Fergus become Speaker of the House is quite significant. It's not often we see Black folks in the upper echelons of power in this country. Representation is definitely not everything, but it's something."

Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal MP for the Ontario riding of London West and co-chair of the Liberal Black Caucus, was mentored by Fergus when she left behind a seat on the London city council to make the jump to Parliament in 2021.

She came to Canada as an 11-year-old refugee after fleeing Burundi's civil war with her family, and earned her undergraduate degree while raising a son.

Kayabaga told CBC News that when people walk through Parliament, they see paintings of former Speakers on the walls — almost all of them white men.

"I think it makes not just a difference to Black little boys and Black little girls. I think it makes a difference to every single Canadian who came to this country and made a life for themselves," she said.

"When you can see something, you can be the thing that you are seeing. If you can't imagine ever being in a position of leadership because nobody who is in leadership looks like you, you can actually live a lifetime without ever considering being involved in leadership."

Velma Morgan, chair of Operation Black Vote Canada, said that while qualified Black Canadians are often overlooked for leadership positions, members of her community are "ecstatic" that Fergus was not passed over this time.

"For our community, we are able to see someone that looks like us," she said. "And for everybody else, it says that we matter and we've contributed to our society and we continue to contribute to our society."

Morgan said that if someone surveyed her community members a few weeks ago, they "couldn't even guess" who the Speaker was or what the Speaker does. That's changed now, she added.

"Not only do they know who the Speaker is now, but they know what the role is of the Speaker of Canada," she said. "Him just being elected has given a civic course to members of our community that would not have happened without him."

Not a token position

Fergus was part of a wave of new Liberal MPs in 2015. He has since racked up extensive experience on Parliament Hill in a variety of roles. 

Fergus has held seven parliamentary secretary positions, including parliamentary secretary to the prime minister. The member for Hull-Alymer has also served on seven House of Commons committees and dozens of inter-parliamentary groups and has held the dual role of co-chair of the Parliamentary Black Caucus and the Liberal Black Caucus. 

When former Speaker Anthony Rota was forced to step down after it emerged his office unknowingly invited a Ukrainian Canadian to Parliament who had served in the Nazi SS Galizien formation during the Second World War, Fergus' parliamentary experience served him well in the ensuing Speaker's election.

"Outside the fact that Greg is a Black man, Greg is an outstanding member of Parliament. He is qualified to be in this position," said Kayabaga.

"He wasn't elected because he is Black. He was elected because he knows the job well, he's going to do a good job. He happens to be Black, which is great for us, but he had the qualifications," Morgan said. 

Clarke points out that getting a majority of votes from MPs suggests Fergus has "impressed the vast majority of members of the House over the years since he's been there."

The current co-head of the Parliamentary Black Caucus, Liberal MP Michael Coteau, said that while winning a seat in the House is hard, winning the support of that House can be much harder.

"You live in a community, you grow up in a community, people know you, they give you their support. But the confidence of the House represents a viewpoint that is from all different parts of Canada," Coteau said. 

"So for Greg to get the confidence of the House of Commons, to preside as the referee, is a massive accomplishment for Black Canadians and for Greg Fergus himself."

During his speech in the Speaker's election, Fergus promised to restore decorum to the House of Commons — a pledge that has been made by many Speakers past.

Asked whether he thinks Fergus will have more luck than his predecessors on improving the tone in the House, Clarke simply said, "No." 

"Parliament has always been contentious, it's always been rowdy. There's never been a quiet moment really," he added. 

Tari Ajadi, assistant professor of political science at McGill, said the sense of decorum in the House of Commons has been declining for a long time and expecting Fergus to arrest that decline may be overly optimistic.

"As for the actual, meaningful impact on policy, I think there's nil. As for a meaningful impact on the decorum of the House of Commons, I think that that will also be nil," he said. "I don't think that this appointment is going to shift that in a meaningful way."

Debra Thompson agreed but said that calm in the Commons is not something that a Speaker, or anyone, should be advocating for in the first place.

She said MPs should be free to express anger, joy, frustration and passion on behalf of the constituencies that they were sent to Ottawa to represent. 

"Conflict is a part of democracy. It's a fundamental part of democracy," she said. "The best case scenario here is that Greg Fergus's tenure as Speaker of the House is in fact unremarkable, because it's supposed to be."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.