Rodger Cuzner

Rodger T. Cuzner MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Cape Breton—Canso Bras d'Or—Cape Breton (2000-2004)
Incumbent
Assumed office November 27, 2000
Preceded by	Michelle Dockrill
Personal details
Born	( 1955-11-04) November 4, 1955 Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lynn Cuzner
Residence	Glace Bay
Profession	event organizer

Rodger T. Cuzner, MP , (born November 4, 1955) is a Canadian politician, who has been the member of parliament in the Canadian House of Commons as the representative for the riding Cape Breton—Canso or its predecessors since 2000. For most of 2003, he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister under Jean Chrétien.

Early life and education

Cuzner was born the second of six children born to Truman and Kay Cuzner in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. He studied physical education at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. He worked as the Special Event Coordinator for the Cape Breton Department of Recreation, Culture and Facilities, where he was responsible for major events like the Millennium Countdown 2000. Cuzner has been very involved with hockey throughout his life. He coached Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Games in 1995 and 1999.

Political career

He is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Cape Breton—Canso. He was first elected in 2000. Cuzner served as parliamentary secretary to former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from January 13, 2003 to December 11, 2003 and has held other key positions within the Liberal Caucus, including chair of Nova Scotia Caucus, chair of Atlantic Caucus, and Chief Opposition Whip. He currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

Cuzner represents the Liberal Party on the weekly MP panel on CTV News Channel's Power Play, with host Don Martin, and he is regularly asked to appear on other national political affairs programs, on television and radio.

Cuzner traditionally delivers a humorous, politically-themed rewrite of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on the last house sitting before the holiday break.

On December 2, 2015, Cuzner was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

Personal life

He and his wife Lynn (née Hopkins) have three children: Mitch, Scott and Brad.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2015: Cape Breton—Canso
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	32,163	74.39	+30.29	–
	Conservative	Adam Daniel Rodgers	6,246	14.45	–18.17	–
	New Democratic	Michelle Smith	3,547	8.20	–11.85	–
	Green	Maria Goretti Coady	1,281	2.96	–0.28	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			43,237	100.0		$204,662.05
Total rejected ballots			274	0.63	–0.31
Turnout			43,511	71.72	+9.25
Eligible voters			60,666
	Liberal hold		Swing		+24.23
Source: Elections Canada

Canadian federal election, 2011: Cape Breton—Canso
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	16,478	46.45	-1.65	$63,928.72
	Conservative	Clarence Derrick Kennedy	10,873	30.65	+7.15	$75,474.80
	New Democratic	Marney Simmons	6,984	19.69	-1.43	$2,528.46
	Green	Glen Carabin	1,141	3.22	-4.06	$346.95
Total valid votes/Expense limit			35,476	100.0		$83,274.40
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			336	0.94	+0.14
Turnout			35,812	62.47	-0.84
Eligible voters			57,331
	Liberal hold		Swing		-4.40
Sources:

Canadian federal election, 2008: Cape Breton—Canso
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	17,447	48.10	-5.09	$35,405.44
	Conservative	Allan Murphy	8,524	23.50	-0.68	$51,511.90
	New Democratic	Mark MacNeill	7,660	21.12	+0.98	$6,483.40
	Green	Dwayne MacEachern	2,641	7.28	+4.78	$5,315.05
Total valid votes/Expense limit			36,272	100.0		$80,776
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			292	0.80	+0.09
Turnout			36,564	63.31	-3.21
Eligible voters			57,753
	Liberal hold		Swing		-2.20

Canadian federal election, 2006: Cape Breton—Canso
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	21,424	53.19	-0.07	$62,038.40
	Conservative	Kenzie MacNeil	9,740	24.18	+3.94	$47,590.43
	New Democratic	Hector Morrison	8,111	20.14	-4.18	$7,662.93
	Green	Rob Hines	1,006	2.50	+0.33	$323.17
Total valid votes/Expense limit			40,281	100.0		$76,321
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			288	0.71	-0.24
Turnout			40,569	66.52	+2.72
Eligible voters			60,984
	Liberal hold		Swing		-2.00

Canadian federal election, 2004: Cape Breton—Canso
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	20,139	53.26	-0.33	$63,078.17
	New Democratic	Shirley Hartery	9,197	24.32	+5.44	$21,160.51
	Conservative	Kenzie MacNeil	7,654	20.24	-7.19	$49,919.36
	Green	Seumas Gibson	820	2.17	–	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			37,810	100.0		$73,856
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			361	0.95
Turnout			38,171	63.80	-3.38
Eligible voters			59,825
	Liberal notional hold		Swing		-2.88
Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.

Canadian federal election, 2000: Bras d'Or–Cape Breton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Rodger Cuzner	20,815	54.85	+16.41
	Progressive Conservative	Alfie MacLeod	8,114	21.38	+1.12
	New Democratic	Michelle Dockrill	7,537	19.86	-21.44
	Alliance	John Currie	1,483	3.91	–
Total valid votes			37,949	100.00
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+18.93

External links

• Rodger Cuzner – Parliament of Canada biography
• Official website