Rodger Cuzner. (Photograph by Chris Roussakis)

NOVA SCOTIA: Former Cape Breton Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner, who was most recently Canada’s Consul General in Boston, has been named a Senator for Nova Scotia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced on Oct. 31, that Cuzner and four others, including fellow Cape Bretoner Rejean Aucoin, who is a lawyer and francophone leader, have been appointed to represent Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the Senate.

“I am pleased to welcome Réjean Aucoin and Rodger Cuzner as Parliament’s newest independent Senators,” Trudeau said. “I am confident that, with diverse leadership experience and impressive track records serving their communities, they will be strong voices Nova Scotia in the Upper House. I look forward to working with them and with all Senators as we continue to build a better future for all Canadians.”

Cuzner was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000, and represented his home province of Nova Scotia for 19 years while serving in various roles, including Parliamentary Secretary to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, before retiring in 2019.

After retiring from politics in 2019, Cuzner worked in the private sector as Senior Advisor with Rubicon Strategies, in Ottawa, before his appointment of Consul General of Canada in Boston in 2020, a role he served until earlier this year.

Cuzner is a current director of the New England Canada Business Council and a long-time member of the Cape Breton Miners Museum Foundation in Glace Bay. He was also a member of the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association for 15 years.

Aucoin, a lawyer of over 30 years, is a member of the Acadian community of Chéticamp and has been deeply involved in community development across Nova Scotia. He is a proud francophone leader and the founder and past president of the Association des juristes d’expression française de la Nouvelle-Écosse.

The selection process Trudeau brought in early in his tenure sees an independent advisory board provide candidate recommendations to the Prime Minister before new Senators are formally appointed by the Governor General.

Comment from Cuzner was not returned by press time.

Drake Lowthers

Drake Lowthers has been a community journalist for The Reporter since July, 2018. His coverage of the suspicious death of Cassidy Bernard garnered him a 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award and a 2019 Better Newspaper Competition Award; while his extensive coverage of the Lionel Desmond Fatality Inquiry received a second place finish nationally in the 2020 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for Best Feature Series. A Nova Scotia native, who has called Antigonish home for the past decade, Lowthers has a strong passion in telling people’s stories in a creative, yet thought-provoking way. He graduated from the journalism program at Holland College in 2016, where he played varsity football with the Hurricanes. His simple pleasures in life include his two children, photography, live music and the local sports scene.

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Drake Lowthers
Drake Lowthers has been a community journalist for The Reporter since July, 2018. His coverage of the suspicious death of Cassidy Bernard garnered him a 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award and a 2019 Better Newspaper Competition Award; while his extensive coverage of the Lionel Desmond Fatality Inquiry received a second place finish nationally in the 2020 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for Best Feature Series. A Nova Scotia native, who has called Antigonish home for the past decade, Lowthers has a strong passion in telling people’s stories in a creative, yet thought-provoking way. He graduated from the journalism program at Holland College in 2016, where he played varsity football with the Hurricanes. His simple pleasures in life include his two children, photography, live music and the local sports scene.