lone gunman

In our "how scared should we be of a Harper government" discussion, I asked how much Harper can do on his own, without approval from the House of Commons.

I was surprised at the level of alarm from some leftist bloggers, given that it's a minority government. Wrye noted:
It's usually with the assumption that Harper cares more about implementing radical change than his own (or his party's) longevity. Some changes (like, say, certain tax cuts or devolving tax powers to the provinces) would be very difficult to reverse. If changing the federation is that important to him, he may do it regardless of the consequences.

Ian Welsh drew a parallel with Dave Barrett. [For more explanation, follow the link.]
Sharonapple said that Harper can appoint Conservative judges and senators. How do Supreme Court appointments work in Canada? Does there have to be an opening, when a Justice dies or retires, as in the US? Or can the Prime Minister actually change the makeup of the Court at will? (This has happened in the US, too, but it's not the Constitutional, and it's not the norm.)

I know the Senate is also appointed. (I read the Wikipedia entry, no need to post that.) But I'm under the impression that the Prime Minister can't just disband the Senate and appoint new Senators. And if he did change the makeup of the Senate, what effect would that have?

The discussion began in this thread; let's pick it up here.

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