When Prime Minister Stephen Harper ignored his own fixed election date and dropped the writ for the October 14, 2008 election, he said it was because parliament had become "dysfunctional.

During the election, the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister repeatedly denied that Canada was facing a raft of economic challenges.

After securing a stronger minority government in the election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promptly announced a six-point plan to deal with the stormy financial waters threatening Canada's economy including:

• a first ministers meeting to discuss the global financial crisis;
• continued work with the other G7 nations to take "appropriate actions" to support Canada's financial system;
• a fall recall of Parliament;
• a meeting with European Union leaders to discuss the economic crisis and strengthen Canada's economic partnership with the European Union;
• attendance at a summit of G-20 finance ministers in Brazil; and,
• a review of departmental spending.

All of this was followed by an “economic update” in November that promised to do away with government financing of political parties and remove the right of public servants to strike. He also promised a small budget surplus.

Last week, the Prime Minister tossed his promise aside when he and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a $5 billion aid package for the auto industry and began the trek towards a thirty billion deficit.

In addition to his post-election economic promises, Mr. Harper also told supporters his party would continue to push for Senate reform. A couple of weeks ago, his Minister of Democratic Reform, Steven Fletcher boasted that if the Government can’t get its Senate reform package passed, it will move to abolish the chamber.

As Manitoba Senator Sharon Carstairs reminds us, “that's a lot of hot air”, because constitutional change (required to abolish the Senate) requires the approval of seven provinces representing at least fifty percent of the population of Canada.

Earlier this week, just three days before Christmas, the Prime Minister announced his first step on the road to Senate reform. He appointed 18 people to the Senate.

Among his appointments were former television broadcaster Pamela Wallin, 1960s Olympic gold medalist (downhill skier) Nancy Greene-Raine, CTV news personality Mike Duffy (payback for embarrassing Stéphane Dion during the election), former New Brunswick cabinet minister Percy Mockler and New Brunswick lawyer John. D. Wallace. Most of the others are former MLAs and prominent business people.

The 105-member Senate still includes 59 Liberals. "I do not believe it is justified that the Senate continue to be dominated by a party that did not win two consecutive elections." said Mr. Harper.

The Prime Minister’s appointment of senators marks a significant departure from his long-held position that Senate members should be elected. The Tories had named only Quebec lawyer Michael Fortier and Albertan Bert Brown to the Senate since coming to power. Following the January 2006 election, he gave Fortier a seat in the Senate and then appointed him to cabinet, a decision he said was to ensure representation for Montreal. Mr. Fortier resigned from the Senate to run and lose in the October election.

Harper has put the Senate back to the centre of debate after years away from the spotlight. The heyday of western agitation for a new kind of Senate, elected, effective and with an equal number from each province is long past. It faded after Canadians rejected the 1992 Charlottetown Accord, which would have overhauled the Senate, along triple-e lines.

When Harper promised during the election that a Conservative government would create "a new national process for choosing elected senators from each province and territory," the pledge sounded almost nostalgic, a nod to his party's Reform wing.

In early December, Mr. Harper asked the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until January 26th to avoid a confidence vote and the possibility of defeat by the opposition parties. They criticize Mr. Harper's decision to make Senate appointments when Parliament is prorogued, saying he does not have the confidence of the House.

Desmond Morton, a constitutional scholar and professor emeritus at McGill University, calls the 18 Senate appointments a scandal, given that Harper’s minority government is hanging on by a thread. Morton acknowledges that Mr. Harper has the power to do it but he shouldn’t have the gall.

The Prime Minister’s actions clearly indicate that he doesn’t get it. Canadians are in the midst of a global economic crisis. They are concerned about their jobs, lost savings and declining real estate values, not the makeup of their Senate.

As with his earlier economic update, Mr. Harper has allowed his personal ideology to get in the way of urgent economic considerations. It’s a role of the dice that may prove dire in its consequences.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com