http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...tories&s_name=
Quote:
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to fill 18 vacancies in the unelected Senate with Conservative loyalists before Christmas, CTV News has learned.
Sources said Harper is concerned the Senate committee system isn't working properly because there are only 20 Conservative senators sitting in the Liberal-dominated Red Chamber.
But according to insiders, what really drove Harper to move quickly and fill the vacant Senate seats is the possibility of losing political power in January at the hands of the Liberal-NDP coalition.
....
"It would be irresponsible to have this unelected coalition government stack the Senate with their supporters," said one Conservative insider.
Harper had campaigned on replacing the unelected body with elected Senators. Before the fall election, the Tories had proposed legislation to allow for their appointment in provinces that held Senate elections, and limit their terms to just eight years.
....
An insider said Harper would ask anyone he appoints to agree to step down and run in a Senate election if new legislation is ever implemented.
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It's too bad that an elected senate hasn't become a reality yet. At least this should even out the political representation in the Senate, even though it will be lopsided - 38/105 instead of 20/105.