GLACE BAY, N.S. — After announcing that he won’t reoffer following 19 years representing the riding of Cape Breton-Canso in Ottawa, Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner was quick to cite the one item from his record that he would likely change if he could go back in time.
“I think maybe my vote on same-sex marriage would be one I would think differently about,” he said. “I thought I was doing what had to be done at the time, but that would be one that I might want over again.”
Cuzner based his decision to vote against the 2005 legislation on the results of a write-in poll that he did within his constituency, which showed a majority of those who responded were opposed to it.
Cuzner was first elected in November 2000, defeating New Democrat incumbent Michelle Dockrill. He was re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011, prior to his most recent election win in 2015. He currently sits as the chair of the standing committee on international trade. In 2015, he won his riding with 74.4 per cent of the vote and didn’t lose a poll.
Calling it the worst-kept secret in Cape Breton, Cuzner officially announced at an event at the Savoy Theatre Friday that he will not run for a seventh time in this fall’s federal election. A friendly crowd of supporters from across the geographically large riding was on hand for Cuzner’s announcement. While he said last month he wasn’t ready to make his intentions public, Cuzner said Friday he had essentially made his decision to step aside in December. Since that time, in speaking with family, “the cement has hardened,” he said, although it was a difficult decision to make.
Cuzner’s colleague, Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking, who entered federal politics along with him in 2000, has already announced that he won't seek re-election. The ridings of Cuzner and Eyking have in the past been described as being among the safest Liberal seats in Canada.Cuzner admitted the travel required with serving the people of the riding increasingly wore on him.
“It’s become a little less exciting getting in the car and making it around to such a big riding,” he said. “I think the people in this riding deserve to be served by someone who just has that fire in their belly and wants to get out and really get it done,” Cuzner said.
“My approach to the job was pretty easy — I tried to work hard and I tried to tell the truth. It always wasn’t popular, but I did my best,” he said.
Much of the banter at Friday’s announcement was light-hearted, but the event also had its serious moments. When asked by reporters about what he had managed to accomplish during his time in Ottawa, Cuzner instead first spoke about items that still have him scratching his head. In particular, he referred to the high youth poverty rate in Cape Breton and noted the child tax benefit has worked to reduce poverty in every region of the country other than Nova Scotia.
“We’ve asked the department to provide us with further details, that’s one that has me still perplexed,” Cuzner said.
He also mentioned the incarceration of David James Roach, who has been ordered extradited from the United Kingdom to Singapore to face bank robbery allegations.
In his remarks, Cuzner choked up when he spoke about his late mother, Kay, who he described as enjoying politics and being “a bit of a Liberal.” He later said she initially didn’t support the former special event co-ordinator entering the political arena, but she eventually relented.
Cuzner has a reputation as having good relations with people of all political stripes — he has been voted the most collegial MP on the hill — and is known for his sense of humour, with his annual holiday poetic reworking of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” a popular feature. He has also occasionally made headlines for non-political reasons, as when he and Eyking teamed up to usher a beaver out of traffic on a busy Ottawa street and when a solo Cuzner helped to nab a shoplifter stealing duvets at the Mayflower Mall.
Among the accomplishments of which Cuzner says he is most proud is the employment insurance service quality review, noting 54 per cent of the gross domestic product of Atlantic Canada is related to seasonal enterprises and the work done as part of that review benefited seasonal employees.
While the Sydney tar ponds were located in the neighbouring riding of his “Ottawa wife” and longtime roommate Eyking, Cuzner said its remediation also had a significant impact on his constituency. He noted he believed when he arrived in Ottawa that his main fight would be to advocate for Devco and try to keep the mines operating, but said it quickly became apparent that the writing was on the wall for that industry.
When Cuzner and Eyking were first elected, there were 75 jobs associated locally with Citizenship and Immigration, a number that has climbed to more than 700 in recent years.
Infrastructure-wise, Cuzner referred to projects that obtained federal funding during his tenure including the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, the Bayplex, Glace Bay Miner’s Museum and the Savoy Theatre.
Cuzner has held roles including parliamentary secretary to former Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He has publicly acknowledged his disappointment at not cracking Trudeau’s cabinet earlier this year when Bernadette Jordan, who represents South Shore-St. Margarets, joined its ranks.
Cuzner also noted that while politics has always been a bit of a blood sport, it’s taken a particularly nasty turn with the advent of social media.
In paying tribute to his wife, Lynn, Cuzner said he often was absent and she was forced to pick up the slack in raising their now-grown sons Mitch, Scott and Brad, who also had their share of challenges due to their father’s foray into politics.
Recent controversy swirling around Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the SNC Lavalin file did not influence his decision to step aside, Cuzner said, adding he believes Trudeau remains the right person to lead the country, particularly at this time, and he remains proud of the government’s record.
Glace Bay MLA Geoff MacLellan cut his political teeth in Cuzner’s office, where he was hired as the MP’s executive assistant while he was still in university. He said he was happy for his former boss. He added he personally wishes Cuzner was not stepping away and hopes he continues to make his mark in Cape Breton.
“This transcends politics in a significant way for me, this is about just a really good quality person who chose a path because he loved Glace Bay, loved Cape Breton and wanted to help ... Politics is a tough game, physically, emotionally, it wears on us,” MacLellan said.
In retirement, Cuzner said he and Lynn intend to spend more time at their property in Mira.
