Eric Berntson
{{Short description|Canadian politician (1941–2018)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = The Honourable
| name = Eric Berntson
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| office = Senator for Saskatchewan, Canada
| appointed = Brian Mulroney
| predecessor =
| successor =
| term_start = September 27, 1990
| term_end = February 27, 2001
| office2 = Leader of the Opposition
| term_start2 = 1979
| term_end2 = 1982
| predecessor2 = Dick Collver
| successor2 = Allan Blakeney
| assembly3 = Saskatchewan Legislative
| constituency_AM3 = Souris-Cannington
| term_start3 = 1975
| term_end3 = 1990
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 = Dan D'Autremont
| birth_name = Eric Arthur Berntson
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes| 1941|05|16}}
| birth_place = Oxbow, Saskatchewan, Canada
| death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2018|09|23|1941|05|16}}}}
| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| party = Progressive Conservative
| spouse =
}}
Eric Arthur Berntson (May 16, 1941 – September 23, 2018) was a Canadian politician from Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan politics
Berntson was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as a member of the Progressive Conservatives for the district of Souris-Cannington in the 1975 Saskatchewan general election. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1979 to 1982 as newly elected party leader Grant Devine did not have a seat in the legislature.
He served in the Saskatchewan legislature until 1990 and was Deputy Premier in the Devine government.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1999/3/29/a-prairie-titans-fall#!&pid=20 |title=A Prairie titan's fall |work=Maclean's |page=21 |date=March 29, 1999 |accessdate=September 27, 2018}} Berntson was widely regarded to be one of the most powerful members of the Devine government, arguably exercising more influence than the premier himself.{{cite news |url=https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/1941-2018-former-senator-devine-era-mla-passes-away |title=Former senator, MLA Eric Berntson dominated Devine era |work=Regina Leader-Post |last=Fraser |first=D.C. |date=September 26, 2018 |accessdate=September 27, 2018}}
In 1999, Berntson was convicted of illegally diverting government allowances between 1987 and 1991 when he was Saskatchewan's deputy premier. He was sentenced to one year in prison.{{cite news |title=Ex-senator Berntson moved to Regina halfway house for rest of fraud sentence |agency=The Canadian Press |date=April 30, 2001}}
Canadian Senate
On September 27, 1990, Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn, acting on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, appointed Berntson to the Senate of Canada. Berntson was appointed thanks to Mulroney's exercise of the never before used expansion clause that allows two extra members per regional division after all the normal Senate seats are occupied.
He served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1994 until 1997, when he was charged with fraud.{{cite news |agency=The Canadian Press |title=Saskatchewan Senator charged with fraud |work=The Globe and Mail |date=February 25, 1997}}
After the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his attempt to overturn his fraud conviction, Berntson resigned from the Senate on February 27, 2001.{{cite news |agency=The Canadian Press |title=Ex-senator begins fraud sentence |work=Kitchener-Waterloo Record |date=March 2, 2001}}
Berntson also appeared on the 1991 tape that showed future Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski making homophobic slurs and future SaskParty premier Brad Wall mocking then Saskatchewan NDP leader Roy Romanow in a Ukrainian accent which was revealed to the public on March 31, 2008.
Berntson died in Ottawa on September 23, 2018.{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-former-saskatchewan-deputy-premier-senator-eric-berntson-dies-at-77/ |title=Former Saskatchewan deputy premier, senator Eric Berntson dies at 77 |work=The Globe and Mail |agency=The Canadian Press |date=September 26, 2018 |accessdate=September 27, 2018}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=16690}}
- [http://calgaryherald.remembering.ca/obituary/eric-berntson-1070279327 Obituary] in the Calgary Herald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berntson, Eric}}
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan MLAs
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators
Category:Canadian senators from Saskatchewan
Category:Canadian politicians convicted of fraud
Category:21st-century members of the Senate of Canada
Category:Leaders of the opposition of Saskatchewan
Category:Deputy premiers of Saskatchewan
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan