Nicole Eaton

{{Short description|Appointed Senator by Stephen Harper in 2009}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=March 2024}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = Nicole Eaton

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| office = Senator from Ontario

| nominator = Stephen Harper

| appointed = Michaëlle Jean

| predecessor =

| successor = Bernadette Clement

| term_start = January 2, 2009

| term_end = January 21, 2020

| birth_name = Nicole Marie Courtois

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|1|21}}

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| spouse = {{marriage|Thor Eaton|1977|2017|end=d}}

| party = Conservative

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Nicole Marie Eaton (née Courtois; born January 21, 1945) is a former Canadian politician and a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada. A fundraiser for the Conservative Party, she was appointed on the advice of Stephen Harper to the Senate on December 22, 2008, her term starting on January 2, 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/senate/isenator_det.asp?senator_id=2809&sortord=N&Language=E&M=M |title=Senators – Detailed Information |publisher=Parliament of Canada |accessdate=December 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205154301/http://parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/senate/isenator_det.asp?senator_id=2809&sortord=N&Language=E&M=M |archive-date=February 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} She was a trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) from 1983 to 1989 and a director of the ROM Foundation from 1996 to 2002.{{cite web|title=ROM – Our History – The Eaton Family |url=http://www.rom.on.ca/about/history/eaton.php |accessdate=December 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209122152/http://www.rom.on.ca/about/history/eaton.php |archivedate=December 9, 2008 }} She retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on January 21, 2020.Well documented at the Senate of Canada page and on the Senate's website. She served as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Canadian Senate from 2015 until her retirement from the Senate.

In 2011, Eaton called Canada's national symbol, the beaver, a "dentally defective rat", and suggested that the polar bear should replace it in Canadian iconography.{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10/27/nicole-eaton-senator-national-symbol_n_1062637.html |title=Nicole Eaton, Canadian Senator, New National Symbol Should Be A Polar Bear |agency=The Canadian Press |work=The Huffington Post Canada |date=October 27, 2011 |accessdate=June 5, 2017}} She gained further notoriety in 2012 by leading the Conservative government's charge in the Senate against environmental charities, making unsubstantiated accusations that the charities are involved in "influence peddling" and "political manipulation".{{cite news|title=Nicole Eaton: The philanthropist who rattles charities|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nicole-eaton-the-philanthropist-who-rattles-charities/article4226078/ |last=McIlroy |first=Anne |accessdate=June 8, 2012 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=June 3, 2012}} On October 3, 2014, the day that Canada's involvement in a military mission against ISIS was announced, she tweeted, "The apple does not fall far from the tree. PM Trudeau refused to fight the Nazis in WWII, Stayed home comfortably in Outremont."{{cite twitter|title=The apple does not fall far from the tree. PM Trudeau refused to fight the Nazis in WWII, Stayed home comfortably in Outremont. |number=518080656069623808 |user=SenEaton |date=October 3, 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129121601/https://twitter.com/SenEaton/status/518080656069623808|archivedate=January 29, 2015 |accessdate=June 5, 2017}}

On August 26, 2016, Eaton ignited a controversy online when she tweeted that "Bicycles are a luxury, most of us use public transportation or walk. Never seen a bike rider obey traffic laws. They are special."{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/SenEaton/status/769222300545744896 |title=twitter.com |access-date=August 26, 2016 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108113204/https://twitter.com/SenEaton/status/769222300545744896 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |website=Torontoist |url=http://torontoist.com/2016/08/senator-eaton-hates-torontos-bike-lanes/ |title=Senator Nicole Eaton Hates Toronto's Bike Lanes |first=David |last=Hains |date=August 26, 2016 |accessdate=June 13, 2017}} This was in response to the addition of dedicated bike lanes to Bloor Street in downtown Toronto. She later deleted her Twitter account.{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/30/senator-deletes-twitter-account-after-bike-lane-rant.html|title=Senator deletes Twitter account after bike lane rant |newspaper=Toronto Star |last=Hudes |first=Sammy |access-date=August 31, 2016}}