Byline: Bruce Campion-Smith Toronto Star

Denise Batters came to Parliament Hill a year ago to make an eloquent plea for a national suicide prevention program.

Now Batters is returning to Ottawa to pursue her cause, this time as a senator. The Saskatchewan lawyer was one of five Canadians named to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday.

She's moved to her mission by a personal tragedy - her husband Dave, a popular Conservative MP, killed himself in 2009 soon after depression forced him to leave politics.

Batters told the Star Friday that she will "definitely" be continuing her push for a national program to combat suicides and depression.

Harper's other Senate appointments are:

Lynn Beyak, a small business owner from Dryden, Ont. She has served on the Fort Frances-Rainy River board of education.

Victor Oh, of Mississauga, is president of Wyford Holdings. He is also founding chairman of the Canada-China Business Communication Council, the chair of Safe City Mississauga and a member of the board of governors of Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning.

Doug Black is a Calgary lawyer who has served on the board of governors of the University of Calgary, governor emeritus of the Banff Centre, and chair of the Michaelle Jean Foundation.

David Wells, of St. John's, was most recently the deputy CEO of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

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