Nicole Eaton

The Honourable Nicole Eaton
Senator from Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2009
Nominated by	Stephen Harper
Appointed by	Michaëlle Jean
Personal details
Born	January 21, 1945
Political party	Conservative

Nicole Marie Eaton (born January 21, 1945) is a Canadian politician and a Conservative member of the Canadian Senate. She is the daughter of Edmond Jacques Courtois,^[1] sister of Canada Post Chairman Marc Courtois, and brother of convicted felon E. Jacques Courtois Jr (see below).

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.^[2] A member of the Eaton family through her marriage to Thor Eaton, 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.^[3]

Eaton's brother is E. Jacques Courtois Jr, a notorious convicted insider trader having peddled confidential insider takeover information while a Vice President in Morgan Stanley's mergers and acquisitions department from 1974 to 1977. Courtois Jr fled to Bogota, Colombia, where he was a fugitive for several years before pleading guilty to felony insider trading charges in New York in 1983.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

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.^[10] 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".^[11]

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."^[12]

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." ^[13] This was in response to the addition of dedicated bike lanes to Bloor Street in downtown Toronto. She later deleted her Twitter account.^[14]

References

1. "Nicole Eaton: The philanthropist who rattles charities". Retrieved June 8, 2012. "The Globe and Mail", June 3, 2012.
2. "Senators - Detailed Information". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
3. "ROM - Our History - The Eaton Family". Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2008.
4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19810202&id=EwoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uqQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3410,1191015
5. Arenson, Karen W. (February 14, 1981). "RUIN OF 2 WALL STREET CAREERS". NYTimes.com. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
6. Cole, Robert J. (September 3, 1983). "Insider Fugitive Surrenders". NYTimes.com. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
7. "$19 Million in Insider Trades Laid to Trainee : SEC Links Temporary Morgan Stanley Worker, 24, Taiwan Businessman to Second-Biggest Case - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. June 28, 1988. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
8. Ross, Nancy L. (January 1, 1970). "'Black Box' Polices the Big Board". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
9. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/20/world/americas/help-from-the-left-keeps-a-right-wing-president-in-power-in-colombia.html
10. "Nicole Eaton, Canadian Senator, New National Symbol Should Be A Polar Bear." The Canadian Press, October 27, 2011.
11. "Nicole Eaton: The philanthropist who rattles charities." "The Globe and Mail", June 3, 2012.
14. "Senator deletes Twitter account after bike lane rant | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved August 31, 2016.