It is extremely rare for a Speaker of the House of Commons to be ousted from the job; up until two weeks ago, the last time it had occurred was in 1986. In the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives had, until last week, never been booted out of office. So it is remarkable that Anthony Rota’s forced resignation in Ottawa on Sept. 27 and Kevin McCarthy’s ouster in Washington on Oct. 3 happened barely a week apart. Is there something in the air? Sniffing the winds for a common odour coming from two events that may...