An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Parliament of Canada Act (Speaker of the Senate)

Bill S-226 (44-1) was a Senate Private Member's Bill from Senator Terry M. Mercer to let the Senate elect its own Speaker and Deputy Speaker by secret ballot, rather than have the Speaker appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister under section 34 of the Constitution Act, 1867. On its first sitting after a general election the Senate would choose a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker, and the bill would also have let them take part in votes. The House of Commons has elected its own Speaker by secret ballot since 1986, and the bill aimed to bring the Senate in line with that practice. It amended both the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Parliament of Canada Act. Senator Mercer, a Nova Scotia member of the Progressive Senate Group, had pursued the idea over several Parliaments before reaching mandatory retirement in 2022. S-226 received first reading on November 24, 2021, did not advance beyond that stage, and was dropped from the Senate Order Paper on May 30, 2024.