Unsurprisingly, it is based on the usual canard about "electing senators" - a symbolic farce that has been perpetrated repeatedly in Alberta.
"Imagine that after a century and a half, democracy will finally come to the Senate of Canada."
Senators are currently appointed by the government, but Harper said the new law would let voters choose a preferred candidate to represent their provinces and territories.
Of course, what he's really whining about is the fact that the Senate can, and often does, send bills back to the House of Commons with significant amendments. The Senate has very limited legislative rights in our system of government. (In particular, the Senate cannot originate legislation that involves the expenditure of public funds (See Section 53 of the Constitution. This is a major limitation, as it prevents the the Senate from initiating major government programs (most public programs ultimately involve some kind of funding).
Because Harper could not actually amend the Senate without opening the Constitution, he has chosen to do this by legislation that "provides the Prime Minister with a "gauge" of public opinion". Reviewing the Constitution itself, the appointment of Senators lies firmly in the hands of the Queen's Representative, The Governor General. Traditionally, the GG has 'accepted' the nominations made by the sitting Prime Minister, but is not obliged to do so.
At one time, I had thought of amending the Senate so that it served as a "regionally balanced" house in counter weight to the population balanced character of the House of Commons. However, that was long before I came to understand that the appointed Senate actually serves a useful purpose - because its members are not "looking over their shoulder" at the upcoming election, the Senators are free to evaluate the legislation from the House of Commons for its implications, and to recommend amendments to the House of Commons. (This has been a sore point with the CPoC because much of their legislation keeps coming back with amendments that they don't like - of course, much of their legislative agenda breaks fundamentals of our laws)
As far as I can tell, this is basically a "window dressing" act - the Conservatives are attempting to create some "positive spin" for an election likely to be triggered in early spring.
(BTW - I'm not necessarily opposed to changing the nature and character of our legislative bodies, but it has to be done very carefully - simply putting a faux-election around our Senate appointments is nothing more than aping the American governmental system in my view)
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