House of Commons meets to elect new Speaker, 7 MPs vying for role

Members of Parliament are gathering in the House of Commons to elect a new Speaker, where the seven candidates vying for the key role are making last-minute pitches to their peers.

Members of Parliament are gathering in the House of Commons to elect a new Speaker, where the seven candidates vying for the key role are making last-minute pitches to their peers.

It will be a day for the Canadian political history books, as Canada's 38th Speaker is elected to lead the chamber as its impartial adjudicator after a time of international headline-grabbing acrimony.

The extremely rare mid-session Speaker election is on account of Anthony Rota's resignation last week over his errant and embarrassing invitation and recognition of a man who fought alongside the Nazis in the Second World War during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Parliament. 

Here are the MPs who are rising in the House to make their case for why they want the key role and the perks it comes with:

Just as the House began sitting on Tuesday, Liberal MP Stephane Lauzon, who had been on the list as of Monday evening, took himself out of the running. 

The Liberal caucus held an early morning meeting on Tuesday to discuss the important vote, which is being conducted using secret ranked ballots. 

With Dean of the House Bloc Quebecois MP Louis Plamondon presiding for his sixth time, after candidates speak to why they'd be best to uphold the traditions of the House, some last-minute lobbying will take place behind the scenes.