Up here our Prime Minister, Stephen "Steve" Harper, has gone off his meds again, probably in distress over President Jo Jo The Idiot Boy leaving office shortly: Steve won’t have any friends to play with during recess at the G-8.
It would seem that Stephen woke up from a week of high-manic behaviour and decided to appoint 18 folks to the Senate. (See the American Note at the end for an explanation) The list reads like a list of political payoffs, as expected and a few choices that can only described as inside jokes or the make-good on an April Fool’s Day bet that went wrong.
The top three appointments that are catching the fancy of the press are: Mike Duffy of CTV, Pam Wallin, ex-CTV/CBC and one-time Consul-General for Canada and Nancy Greene Raine, Olympic Gold Medal winner in 1968.
Duffy is best described as a one-time political pit-bull who has been asking the occasional pointed question of politicians in Ottawa since 1971 when he worked for CFRA on the Hill beat. Duffy is the second or third best known export of Prince Edward Island: The other two notable exports include Lucy Maud Montgomery and a stripper named Sparkle Gallant who did an act with lawn darts. I digress.
Pamela Wallin is the sole well-known export of Wadena Saskatchewan. (I admit to having breakfast with her in the cafeteria at CJOH-TV, as the Canada AM Ottawa studios were part of the station, Studio B, if I recall. For that matter, I’ve had breakfast with Jean Chretien too. Same table, same cafeteria, same trivial conversations at 0600 waiting to get to work) Pam is a journalist of repute and is also a charter member of BroadsCanada. I wish I was making this up, but I’m not.
Nancy Greene Raine’s claim to fame is a Gold Medal in the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble and many World Cup Skiing events. She’s originally from Ottawa, believe it or not and was one of the initial developers of Whistler-Blackcomb in BC. I think "Canadian Icon" applies properly and nicely to Nancy Greene Raine.
The other fifteen Senate appointees? Nobodies, unless you count Leo Housakos, who was the Director of Via Rail Canada and supervised the most barely adequate inter-city train service on Earth. Lawyers and fartcatchers would sum up the rest.
They’ve all been appointed by a Prime Minister who is dedicated to a Equal, Elected and Effective Senate. Since the House is prorogued and Steve can’t do anything there without bringing down his government, at least he’s doing something to keep busy.
(American Note: Our Senate of 105 seats is appointed. Technically they are a Chamber of Sober Second Thought regarding any laws passed by the House of Commons. This is a holdover from British parliamentary tradition, in that commoners could not advise the monarch: Only the House of Lords/Senate could give advice to the Crown to provide Royal Assent to the laws passed by the House of Commons. In the Olde Days, Senators were appointed for Life and were rarely Sober, or Thoughtful.
The Canadian Senate is like the Puerto Rican Pineapples float in the Rose Bowl Parade: You look at it, you’re astonished by it and wonder how it works, but it doesn’t actually matter in the grand scheme of life.)
RoadDave 
At least you have intigue rather than a coronation like we are haveing in the USA. The appointment of Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary will be slightly less exciting.