OTTAWA - A young Stephen Harper was first swept into the House of Commons back in 1993 on a wave of often idealistic western populism that, among other things, demanded a Senate that was "equal, effective and elected."

Fifteen years later, those populists, now led by Prime Minister Harper, are realists when it comes to Senate reform.

To paraphrase one of the prime minister's senior advisers, it's a chicken-or-the-egg kind of problem. You can't change the rules for Parliament's upper chamber until you control it. And you can't control it unless you appoint senators.

But his political opponents say Harper is embarking on nothing more than an orgy of patronage as his government looks defeat in the face.

"Does Mr. Harper think that Canadians aren't going to notice this blatant flip-flop?" said NDP MP David Christopherson.

In the economic and fiscal statement that prompted the current political crisis in Ottawa, the Conservatives proposed doing away with public subsidies of political parties because, as they said, politicians had to do their bit to cut costs in tough economic times. A senator gets a salary of about $130,000 a year.

But hiring 18 new senators and their staffs will cost about $6 million a year, said Christopherson . . . [Read the rest of the story]

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