Todd Decker has been the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for 26 years, but with the Assembly for 39 years. His career has been truly unique and remarkable. His job is like no other job, but there is a short description of the role of the Clerk on the assembly website. It says that “The Clerk is the chief permanent officer of the Legislative Assembly.” I guess it’s permanent until he retires, that is.

It goes on to say, “An expert in parliamentary rules and procedures, the Clerk advises the Speaker and members of provincial Parliament on questions of procedure and interpretation of the rules and practices of the House.” So the Clerk is like the ChatGPT of the Legislature, but with a soul. Ask him anything, no matter how obscure, and Todd will respond comprehensively and with computational speed.

“In order to communicate easily with the Speaker, the Clerk sits at a long table in front of the Speaker’s chair.” That table is like the central nerve of this House, counting down the minutes we’re allowed to speak. And it should be noted that during the many hours Mr. Decker has been sitting at that table, he has done admirably at keeping a poker face, despite the buffooneries that sometimes happen in here. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a sense of humour; just ask his colleagues.

“He is also responsible for keeping track of the votes in the Chamber”—no interpretation or no wiggle room here. It carries, or it doesn’t.

“After a provincial election, the Clerk swears in the newly elected members of provincial Parliament.” Having been elected in a by-election during the pandemic, Todd Decker was my only official host when I started. I can never thank him enough for being so supportive at a very confusing time.

The Clerk “is also responsible for the administration of Legislative Assembly services that support Ontario’s MPPs.” And supporting Ontario’s MPPs, he has done extensively. What it really includes, I would tell you, but I don’t think I or anyone else really knows.

All said, it’s undeniable that Todd Decker has gone above and beyond the call of duty to shape this place into what it is today and create a sense of belonging for all of us. He will be remembered for his exceptional professionalism, dedication and expertise. We will miss his positive demeanour and remarkable personality.

I got a call from John Fraser this morning, so I do have to add this sentence. He says, “Todd has been of great service to this assembly. I want to thank him personally for his support and for the thankless task of helping me understand the standing orders.”

All the best, Todd, from all of us.

Speaker, it’s an incredible honour for me to be able to stand today, on behalf of the official opposition, and I believe on behalf of all people in the Legislature, to pay tribute to Mr. Todd Decker, the eighth Clerk to sit in that chair.

I have a little bit of history: When he finished university, he was hired as a committee Clerk, and he started as a co-op student here.

I’ve got to say that sitting here in the last while and serving on some committees with Todd, there’s no one more deserving of the accolades he’s getting today and no one more uncomfortable with them. I can guarantee you that.

Some of us might remember a cartoon in the Bugs Bunny series—this has a point—where the sheepdog and the wolf would clock in and beat each other up all day and then go home, right? And that’s what we do. And the only thing missing in that cartoon is where the sheepdog and the wolf go up to this table and ask what the rules are. The person at the table watches it go on and his face never changes. Todd fits that to a T.

In his career, and certainly in the 12 years that I’ve been here, for everyone here, despite our political differences, who was the one person we trusted to give us the square deal on how we could do it or what we couldn’t do? Who was the head of the ship? Mr. Todd Decker.

It’s incredible to be elected here. One of the things that we all share as elected representatives is we all like to be heard. We have egos. We like to talk. There are only a few people here who actually have a lot of control, maybe ultimate control of this place, and don’t have an ego. Their true role is to make sure that our democratic process runs as it should. Todd Decker is the ultimate example of that—the ultimate, ultimate example of that.

I have also had the incredible honour of sitting here on a few Thursday afternoons. You know what? This place isn’t always exciting. It can be, and it might be incredibly exciting in a few minutes, but it isn’t always exciting. And it’s always amazed me that all at the Clerks’ table, but particularly Todd, can listen and his face just stays as—he never shows a side but he never shows that he’s disinterested. But I’ve got to admit, there have been a couple times where Todd and I have both been fighting to keep our eyes open. Now, he did a much better job of it than I did because once I opened my eyes and he was looking right at me.

I don’t know if I share this with everyone: I don’t come from a political background. When I was first elected, I was as far over there as you could get—and there’s no bad seat in this House. I want to make everyone aware: There’s no such thing as a bad seat in this House. And I actually wondered—I didn’t know anything about how parliamentary democracy worked—what these people were doing and what happened behind the dais. I didn’t have the knowledge or the respect, but now I do.

I’d like anyone listening to this—the people here at the Clerks’ table, behind the dais, on the dais, they’re what make our Parliament work, our democracy work. And once again, there is no better representative of that in this country than Mr. Todd Decker. On our behalf, thank you very much, sir.

Speaker, if you seek it, you’ll find unanimous consent to allow members to make statements in tribute to the outstanding service of Mr. Todd Decker, the eighth Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, with five minutes allotted today to His Majesty’s loyal opposition, five members allotted to the independent members as a group and five minutes allotted to His Majesty’s government.

It’s a true honour to rise today to pay tribute to Ontario’s eighth legislative Clerk-in-chief, Todd Decker, for his service to the members of the Ontario Legislative Assembly and the people of Ontario, and for the leadership, Todd, you have provided for everybody who works in this building.

Prior to being appointed Clerk-in-chief in 2016, Todd served in this building for 32 years, totalling 39 years of service to the people of Ontario. He has earned our trust and our respect with his wisdom, his integrity, his non-partisan guidance and his famous poker face.

Todd has had to navigate this Legislature through extraordinary times during much of his tenure, not only during the pandemic emergency, where he played an essential role in ensuring the functioning of the parliamentary democracy in this province and the business here in the House, but also in managing an unprecedented number of independent members of the Legislature.

My election as Ontario’s first Green MPP in 2018 resulted in the first time that there was a fourth party elected to this Legislature since 1951 and, with the results that the Liberals experienced in that election, the most independent members in the Legislature since the 1940s. Let’s just say the standing orders were not written for such an unprecedented number of independent MPPs. I’ll admit that I spent much of the summer of 2018 in Todd’s office, not only learning how this place works, but also working with him to ensure the rights and privileges of independent members in this House.

Todd, I’ll be forever grateful for the wisdom, guidance and time that you took, and the patience you had to work with a team of newbies who had no idea how this place worked, and to work with us to ensure that we had the opportunity to have full participatory rights in this House. That legacy will endure. Todd, our democracy is stronger because of your service, and the people of Ontario and all members of this Legislature owe you a debt of gratitude—

Applause.