Prime Minister Paul Martin announced nine new senators Thursday, including retired general Romeo Dallaire and former Liberal cabinet minister Art Eggleton.

"The choices for the Senate reflect the choice of outstanding Canadians with a record of accomplishments," Martin said Thursday, referring to his first appointments since he became prime minister.

"These are people who will certainly serve their country very well. I'm very proud of these appointments."

Martin took the unusual move of appointing three senators from Opposition parties, including two Progressive Conservatives and, for the first time, a member of the New Democrat Party.

But the NDP said it would not be recognizing the appointment of New Democrat Lillian Dyck because the party believes the Senate should be abolished.

"We're encouraging her to sit as an independent -- it would be more representative of her political affiliation," NDP spokesperson Karl Belanger said. He also told The Canadian Press that Dyck is not a current party member.

The Tory appointees are specifically referred to as "Progressive Conservatives," what is an important distinction, CTV's Mike Duffy reported.

"All of the Progressive Conservatives that are named today will sit as Progressive Conservatives, i.e. not as members of the Stephen Harper caucus," Duffy reported, appearing on CTV Newsnet.

This means the appointees don't boost the official Opposition's numbers, Duffy explained.

"Liberal governments don't normally appoint members of the Opposition but these people are not going to sit as Liberals, they are going to sit as members of the Opposition caucus," Martin said.

"And I think it's up to the leaders of the Opposition parties to decide whether in fact they will be welcomed into their caucus."

Martin said he expected that senators would vote freely, and not necessarily in accordance with Liberal policies.

"Certainly it's been my experience with senators that they essentially follow their own path, they take a very independent stance on a wide range of areas," he said.

"Yes, Liberals vote with Liberals normally, and hopefully, but members of the Opposition certainly are free to vote the way they want, and that's the way they do."

The list of appointees includes:

• Lillian Dyck, a New Democrat from Saskatchewan.
• Jim Cowan, a Martin backer from Nova Scotia.
• Nancy Ruth, an Ontario Progressive Conservative.
• Robert Peterson, a Saskatchewan Liberal.
• Grant Mitchell, former Alberta Liberal leader.
• Claudette Tardif, an Alberta Liberal.
• Elaine McCoy, an Alberta Progressive Conservative.
• Dallaire will represent Quebec, and Eggleton, Ontario.

The appointments still leave seven vacancies in the upper chamber.

CTV's Duffy said there were rumours that appointments of some other prominent names were expected, such as former politician Maureen McTeer, the wife of former Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark.

"Of course there are still another seven senators to come and we don't know when those appointments will be made," Duffy reported, appearing on CTV Newsnet.

Martin did not name any of the three men unofficially elected by Alberta voters, who want to see an elected Senate.

Alberta started holding its own Senate elections in 1989, after years of deriding the Senate for under-representing the West and for being a patronage plaything of federal governments.

Martin has said he agrees the Senate should ultimately be reformed to make the institution more democratic, but that would require constitutional negotiations, a prospect no one relishes.

With files from The Canadian Press