Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named five new senators Tuesday, choosing long-time Liberal Rodger Cuzner and two other Liberals to the Red Chamber.
“I am confident that, with diverse leadership experience and impressive track records serving their communities, they will be strong voices for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the Upper House,” Trudeau said in a statement.
The new faces in the Senate are:
- Joan Kingston, John McNair and Krista Ross, who will be representing New Brunswick.
- Réjean Aucoin and Rodger Cuzner, who will be representing Nova Scotia.
Tuesday’s announcement brings the number of independent senators chosen by Trudeau to 75, in the 105-seat Senate, with 11 more vacancies yet to be filled.
Once appointed, senators choose to sit as a non-affiliated senator or to join one of the four groups in the chamber: the Independent Senators Group, which currently has 39 members; the Conservative or Canadian Senators groups, each with 15 members; or the Progressive Senate Group, which has 11 members.
Former Liberal MP Cuzner was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000 and represented two Cape Breton ridings in Nova Scotia during his 19 years.
While in Ottawa, Cuzner held a number of key roles, including chief opposition whip and parliamentary secretary to former prime minister Jean Chrétien.
Cuzner was well-known for his annual Christmas poem in the House of Commons in which he poked fun at all sides of the House with his sharp wit and sense of humour.
WATCH | MP Rodger Cuzner reads his annual Christmas poem:
Featured VideoThe Cape Breton MP continues his tradition of reading a political parody of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas in the House of Commons.
From 1995 to 1999, Kingston served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly in New Brunswick, representing the provincial riding of New Maryland and holding a number of ministerial positions including Labour, Environment and Human Rights.
A registered nurse and health advocate, Kingston is the chair of her province’s Community Action Group on Homelessness and past president of the Nurses Association of New Brunswick.
Another former Liberal being elevated to the Senate is McNair, a lawyer who served as the executive director of the New Brunswick Liberal Association (provincial and federal).
Ross, a business woman and former head of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, also served as a commissioner with the Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission for New Brunswick.
Réjean Aucoin, a lawyer and former journalist from Chéticamp, N.S., is an accomplished leader from the Acadian community and founder of the Association of French-speaking Jurists of Nova Scotia.
