Red Chamber Turns Blue

Stephen Harper makes five new appointments to Senate

Stephen Harper finally made his expected Senate appointments toay, as his party finally put itself in the driver's seat in the upper house.

Bob Runciman, Vim Kochhar, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Elizabeth Marshall and Rose-May Poirier will all be joiing the Conservative Senate caucus.

While Harper's last batch of Senators -- featuring among them former Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Demers (who admitted he knew nothing about politics) -- was considered by many Canadians to be sub-par. This particular batch is much, much better.

Bob Runciman is an outspoken advocate of Senate reform. He even introduced a recent bill that would empower the government of Ontario to hold elections for Senate nominees. (The bill was defeated by the McGuinty Liberals.)

Vim Kochhar will add another member to the Conservative Aboriginal Caucus. He's a successful aboriginal businessman, and is also a Trustee of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu is a feirce advocate of victims' rights in Canada. He will almost certainly bolster the Tories' anti-crime agenda, and should lend additional credibility to the Conservatives' crime agenda.

Elizabeth Marshall is formerly the Auditor General of New Brunswick.

Rose-May Poirier is a former Cabinet Minister with portfolios dealing with Local Government, Aboriginal Affairs and Human Resources.

That's a very promising batch of Senators -- and a marked improvement on blatantly partisan appointments like that of Doug Finley.


Other bloggers writing about this topic:

Dan Shields - "He Is Tightenng His Grip"

Russ Campbell - "Interesting Timing for Bob Runciman's Senate Appointment"

Curiosity Cat - "Welcome to the Harper Senate Majority, Courtesy of Michael Ignatieff