Quebec Liberal Greg Fergus has been elected the new speaker of the House of Commons, succeeding Anthony Rota who resigned over the Yaroslav Hunka incident.

He’s also the first Black Canadian to hold the role, something Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says ”should be inspiring for all Canadians; especially younger generations who want to get involved in politics.” 

After the seven speaker candidates individually addressed MPs for their support and before the vote, Fergus said ”the historic nature of that is not lost on me.”

But he added it’s not the reason he wanted to fill the role.

”Respect and decorum – I’m going to be working hard on this and I need all our help to make this happen.

We need to make sure that we treat each other with respect and we show Canadian that example.”

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre calls Fergus’s election ”an incredible achievement” and that Canadians are depending on his to keep the government honest.