The Senate Speaker’s Parade, derived from English parliamentary tradition, marks the opening of a Senate sitting.

The Speaker, surrounded by his officials, proceeds solemnly from his offices to the Red Chamber. They bear with them the ceremonial mace, symbol of the Senate’s authority, which must be laid on the Clerk’s Table before senators may consider business in Chambers. The parade is usually led by the head of the Senate Protective Service and two constables, followed by, in order, the Usher of the Black Rod, the Mace Bearer, the Speaker, two pages, the Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments, the Deputy Clerk and a Reading Clerk. They are followed by one non-commissioned officer.

Similar ceremonies take place in Canadian provincial legislatures, in other countries with parliamentary systems, and even in some American state legislatures where the tradition of the ceremonial mace still survives. In Canada’s Upper Chamber, there are two versions: the short and the long. The short parade proceeds from the Speaker’s offices to the Senate Chamber through the Foyer. The longer procession passes down the North Corridor and through spectacular Confederation Hall. It is performed once a week when the Senate is sitting.

Although processions have been used for centuries to mark important occasions and events, the origins of this particular tradition are shrouded in mystery. It’s clear that the ceremonial mace is descended from the military mace that was carried to protect the British king during times of strife in Parliament. The convention of the Speaker’s Parade may have similarly started as a way to safeguard the British Speaker of the House of Commons (or the Lord Chancellor of the House of Lords) as he moved from the safety of his apartments to the Chamber.

Whatever its roots, however, the tradition of the Speaker’s Parade has held fast, a reminder of the solemnity of legislators’ duties and of the pomp and circumstance of earlier times.

Click here to see the Speaker's Parade on the Parliamentary Site.