HCO Glossary - S

Sergeant-at-Arms

Legislative Assembly Officer in charge of security for the Assembly, MLAs, and visitors to the Chamber. The Sergeant-at-Arms also has custody of the Mace and the Black Rod.

Session

A series of meetings of the Legislative Assembly opened by Royal Proclamation and closed by a cabinet order. When the session is divided into spring and fall periods, these periods are called sittings, as are the daily meetings of the Assembly. Under the Constitution, the Legislature must hold at least one session each year, and the interval between the last sitting day of one session and the first sitting day of the next can be no longer than 12 months.

Speaker, The

The impartial presiding officer of the Assembly who maintains order and rules on procedural issues. The Speaker is a Member of the Legislative Assembly who, since 1993, has been elected to the position by all MLAs by secret ballot. The Speaker has administrative responsibility in the Legislative Assembly Office equivalent to that of a minister of a government department but is not a member of cabinet.

Speech from the Throne

The speech delivered by the Lieutenant Governor which opens each new session and outlines the government's plans for the session.

Statute

A law. A bill is called a statute once it receives Royal Assent. Time Allocation (formerly closure): A measure used by the government to limit time for debate on a bill.

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