MIRA - A former Cape Breton-Canso Member of Parliament who spent 19 years in the federal Liberal caucus is pleased with the collaborative nature of the Canadian Senate, nearly two months after receiving the official confirmation to join the Upper Chamber. 

Rodger Cuzner noted that the Senate currently contains four groups - the Conservative Party of Canada Group, the Canadian Senate Group, the Independent Senate Group and the Progressive Senate Group. The latter group becoming Cuzner's choice for a new Parliamentary home when he entered the Upper House in the late stages of the current session. 

"There's a high degree of collegiality among the groups and among the Senators," Cuzner noted. "But when issues arise, you can see that the Independent Senators, while they don't vote in unison, tend to think more along the Progressive side of where Canada is going...It's a different vibe and a different flow than the House of Commons."

Also on this week's edition of Roundtable:

* 26:40 - Immigration numbers are up across Cape Breton Island in 2023, according to the Immigration Engagement Coordinator for the Cape Breton Partnership. Speaking to Telile LJI journalist Adam Cooke, Dani Mombourquette confirmed that the largest population jump has taken place in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, which welcomed 2,300 new residents from around the world in the past 12 months. However, settlement is also happening in smaller communities such as Inverness County (175), the Town of Port Hawkesbury (125), Richmond County (120) and Victoria County (120).

* 39:24 - Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables will run a pilot project until March 31, 2024 to see if snowmobiles and regular vehicles can share public roadways. This experiment is restricted to two portions of Inverness County - Margaree Centre/Cranton Cross Roads and Big Intervale - and the Lunenburg County community of New Germany. DNRR spokesperson Gary Andrea says the pilot project was developed with safety in mind. Mike Eddy, general manager of the Snowmobilers Association of Nova Scotia, predicts that the endeavour could provide economic spinoffs while also showing that off-road vehicles can safely co-exist with cars and trucks on regular public roads. 

* 52:16 - Richmond County's District Five councillor, Brent Sampson, presents his latest parody of Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas" to the December 18 regular meeting of Richmond Municipal Council.