YOU SAID IT

“Peter Stoffer has a pool table and a dart board in his office. I’d have to put a Jacuzzi in my office to unseat him.”

SYDNEY — Rodger Cuzner took home silver and bronze medals on Wednesday from the 2012 Parliamentarian of the Year Awards, but he’s pretty sure a snazzier office might have been enough to claim gold in at least one category.

In a gala event in Ottawa organized by Maclean’s magazine and L’actualité, and voted on by members of Parliament, the Liberal MP for Cape Breton-Canso was second runner-up to winner Elizabeth May (Green party, SaanichGulf Islands) and first runner-up Bob Rae, (Liberal, Toronto Centre) for Parliamentarian of the Year, no mean feat in a House of Commons that seats 309 MPs.

As an added bonus, Cuzner was first runner-up to Peter Stof- fer (NDP, Sackville-Eastern Shore) in the Most Collegial category.

“Peter Stoffer has a pool table and a dart board in his office,” said Cuzner, tongue firmly in cheek. “I’d have to put a Jacuzzi in my office to unseat him.”

In a more serious vein, Cuzner listed some of Stoffer’s character traits that made him a worthy winner of the award.

“Peter takes the time to talk to people and treats them with respect. He’s not seen as a guy who’s only in it for himself. You treat people the way you want to be treated, and that’s not lost on anybody here.”

May, who spent part of her youth in Margaree Harbour, is a worthy winner of Parliamentarian of the Year, said Cuzner, adding that first runner-up Rae would have been a fine choice as well.

“She’s smart and positive and has a lot of skills. And of course Bob Rae is just an exceptional parliamentarian and a great Canadian.

“I don’t pretend to be in that strata, but just to be mentioned in that neighbourhood, I was flattered to be considered for that.”