WikiLeaks cable notes Harper's Senate 'about-face'
WikiLeaks released hundreds of U.S. documents on Thursday, including those with comments about the Harper government's "about-face" on Senate appointments, remarks on the Liberals' "muted" response to the prorogation crisis and criticism of Canada's failure to enact copyright reform.
A leaked cable from December 2008 suggests that U.S. Embassy officials in Ottawa saw Stephen Harper's appointment of senators as "a major about-face for a PM and a party that long campaigned for an elected upper chamber. The cost of the eighteen new senators also conflicts with political messaging about the need for official belt tightening." The cable goes on to say, however, that "Harper will not pay a real political price. The staunchest advocates of Senate reform are Conservatives in western Canada."