BRANTFORD, Ont. - Stephen Harper's next cabinet -- unlike his last one -- will not include any surprise nominations from the ranks of the unelected Senate, senior Conservative sources said Friday.
Even if his party fares poorly in Quebec, the sources said the prime minister will not turn again to the upper chamber to fill out his ministerial ranks if he retains power in next Tuesday's election.
Harper appointed Quebecer Michael Fortier to the Senate, then named him to cabinet in 2006.
With the Tories facing dismal poll numbers in the province, the implications of that decision could be minuscule representation from Quebec in the upper echelons of the next Conservative government.
"He's not going to be putting anybody (from the Senate)," said one senior Conservative official.
"There were very special circumstances (in 2006) and we don't anticipate those circumstances being necessary."
Like all federal governments, the Conservatives would presumably have one senator sitting in cabinet -- the government leader in the chamber, currently Marjory LeBreton.
There will be no others, the Tories say.
The prime minister has made Senate reform a key personal issue, has refused to even name any unelected senators since his Fortier appointment, and hopes to work toward senatorial elections.
But at a news conference earlier Friday, Harper had refused to rule out a replay of his Fortier nomination. On his first day in office, Feb. 6, 2006, Harper named the Montreal businessman to the Senate and immediately made him public works minister.
That move gave Harper his only cabinet minister from the Montreal area, and added to his relatively small roster of caucus members from the province.
Recent polls suggest that Tory hopes of big gains in the province are being wiped away, and that Harper may even wind up with fewer members elected from Quebec this time around.
He was asked twice at the news conference Friday whether he would rule out installing yet another unelected senator in his cabinet.
Harper twice declined to do so.
"I'm not going to start announcing who I'm appointing to cabinet in the middle of an election campaign," he said.
"Obviously, we're asking the people of Canada in all provinces to ensure they have good representation in the government."
He then urged Quebec voters to help provide him with cabinet material through the more traditional route -- by electing more Conservative MPs in the province.
Harper said that with the economy facing such turbulence, every province would benefit from having more MPs in the upper ranks of government.
"We need people in all parts of the country to have their representatives around the table so their voice and their needs are properly understood," he said.
The latest polls suggest Harper's already thin Quebec ranks could be further depleted. He elected 10 MPs there last time, and not all of them were considered potential cabinet material.
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who has become one of the most influential Quebec Tories, has found himself in a sudden and unexpected fight for his seat.
His geographic neighbour in the Saguenay region -- former municipal mayor Denis Lebel, considered potential cabinet material -- is also in danger of losing his seat.
The Tories' erstwhile rising star in the province, one-time foreign minister Maxime Bernier, was turfed from cabinet last spring after a string of troubles related to his ex-girlfriend Julie Couillard and her relationship with criminal bikers.
And high-profile candidate Andre Bachand -- who managed to get re-elected under the now-defunct Progressive Conservative banner -- is now getting badly outpolled by his Bloc Quebecois rival.
Polls suggest Fortier himself has little hope of winning a seat in the Commons, now that he's quit the Senate to run in a Bloc Quebecois-held riding just west of Montreal.
To make matters more difficult for Harper, his latest criticisms of rival Stephane Dion are being lambasted by his Quebec rivals as a cheap shot against the Liberal leader's English.
Harper was asked Friday why he should get sympathy for his occasional stumbles in French when he ridicules Dion for asking an interviewer to clarify a question in English.
But Harper dismissed the issue, insisting that Dion's fumbling of a question by a Halifax CTV affiliate about the economy had nothing to do with language.
On Thursday, an interviewer asked Dion what he would have done "now" about the economy, had he been in Harper's place. Dion twice interrupted to ask the interviewer whether he was asking about his plans after the election, or about what he would have done differently over the last two-and-a-half years.
Harper said the language issue was a red herring invented by Liberals.
"I don't accept (that)," he said.
"I know there's going to be an attempt. . . . Look, if I were in the Liberals' shoes today, I would be trying to spin this any way I could to avoid people actually watching the interview and seeing what Mr. Dion's answer is . .. .
"His answer is -- in French and in English -- 'I don't have a plan. Yes, I criticize the prime minister, but I don't actually have a plan other than a carbon tax. Please elect me so I can develop one.' "'
In actual fact, Dion's eventual response to the interviewer was to reiterate the 30-day economic action plan he has been touting for the last week. It includes consultations with federal regulators, bureaucrats, private-sector economists and the provincial premiers, as well as a speed-up in federal spending on infrastructure projects.
