36 Facts About Peter Milliken

Peter Milliken was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 until his retirement in 2011 and served as Speaker of the House for 10 years beginning in 2001.

Peter Milliken's Speakership was notable for the number of tie-breaking votes he was required to make as well as for making several historic rulings.

Peter Milliken has the unique distinction of being the first Speaker to preside over four Parliaments.

Peter Milliken's legacy includes his landmark rulings on Parliament's right to information, which are key elements of parliamentary precedent both in Canada and throughout the Commonwealth.

Peter Milliken chose to stand down from Parliament at the 2011 federal election.

Peter Milliken was born in Kingston, Ontario, the eldest of seven children to a physician father, and is a descendant of United Empire Loyalists who left the new United States of America after the American Revolution.

Peter Milliken is the cousin of John Matheson, a former Liberal Member of Parliament best known for his prominent role in adopting the red maple leaf as the Flag of Canada.

Peter Milliken was active in student politics, and served a year as speaker of the student government's assembly at Queen's.

Peter Milliken lectured on a part-time basis at the Queen's University School of Business from 1973 to 1981, became a governor of the Kingston General Hospital in 1977, and has been a trustee with the Chalmers United Church.

Peter Milliken is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada, and an Honorary Patron of Choirs Ontario.

Peter Milliken has long been active in political matters, having served as president of the Frontenac Addington Provincial Liberal Association Kingston in the 1980s.

Peter Milliken subscribed to the Canadian House of Commons Hansard at age sixteen, and once wrote a thesis paper on Question Period.

Peter Milliken won the Kingston and the Islands Liberal nomination in 1988 over local alderman Alex Lampropoulos, and defeated well-known Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Flora MacDonald by 2,712 votes in the 1988 general election.

The Progressive Conservatives won the election with a majority government, and in early 1989 Peter Milliken was named as the Liberal Party's critic for electoral reform, associate critic for senior citizens, and whip for eastern and northern Ontario.

Peter Milliken supported Jean Chretien for the federal Liberal leadership in 1990.

Peter Milliken was easily re-elected in the 1993 election, as the Liberal Party won a majority government, and was named to a two-year term as parliamentary secretary to the Government House Leader in December 1993.

Peter Milliken became chair of the Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee.

Peter Milliken was a leading candidate for Speaker of the House in January 1994, but lost to Gilbert Parent.

Peter Milliken supported fellow Kingstonian John Gerretsen for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996, and moved to the camp of the eventual winner, Dalton McGuinty, after Gerretsen was eliminated on the second ballot.

Godfrey and Peter Milliken gave a twenty-minute presentation on their bill in Washington, DC in early 1997, and were greeted with warm applause from local Helms-Burton opponents.

Peter Milliken was re-elected for a third term in 1997 election, and became Deputy Speaker of the House for the parliament that followed.

Peter Milliken was elected Speaker of the House in late January 2001, after five ballots of a secret vote of all MPs held at the first sitting of parliament following the 2000 federal election.

Peter Milliken was widely praised by government and opposition MPs for his rulings, which were considered very fair.

Peter Milliken brought new life to the chair in delivering his rulings and remarks with witty humour.

In 2005, Peter Milliken prevented an early federal election by breaking a tie vote on the second reading of Bill C-48, an amendment to the 2005 federal budget, which was a confidence motion.

Peter Milliken won his riding for a sixth time in the 2006 election, as the Conservative Party won a minority government nationally.

In February 2007, Peter Milliken rejected the Conservative government's challenge of an opposition bill that commits the government to implement the Kyoto Accord.

Peter Milliken ruled that the bill did not specifically commit the government to any new spending, and was therefore in order.

Peter Milliken was re-elected for a seventh term in the 2008 federal election, which again yielded a Conservative minority government.

On March 18,2010, the three opposition parties asked Peter Milliken to make a pivotal ruling on a question of privilege, in regards to Parliament's request for documents on the transfer of Afghan detainees, a notable issue in 2009 and 2010.

On March 9,2011, Peter Milliken made two historic rulings finding a prima facie case of contempt of Parliament against the government of Stephen Harper, referring the matter to the Procedure Committee.

Conservative Government House Leader John Baird paid homage to Peter Milliken's career, recalling a meeting he'd had with the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Peter Milliken's is known to be the first person to start the tradition of the Speaker releasing an official Scotch whisky.

On June 18,2011, Peter Milliken chaired the Liberal Party of Canada constitutional convention which was held by conference call in order to decide whether or not to amend the party's constitution in order to allow the party's leadership convention to be delayed until 2013.

Later that month, Peter Milliken joined Queen's University as a Fellow at the School of Policy Studies where he teaches and conducts research.

Peter Milliken now serves as an elected member of the Governing Board of The University Club at Queen's University in Kingston.