Eric Olauson is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

in the 2016 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of

Saskatoon University Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

as a member of the

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party is a centre-right political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Since 2007, it has been the province's governing party; both the party and the province are currently led by Premier Scott Moe. The party was est ...

until 2020. Prior to his election, he was the Ward 8 councillor on

Saskatoon City Council Saskatoon City Council is the governing body of Saskatoon, the largest city in the central Canadian province of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered ...

for less than a full term. He served on the Standing Committee For Intergovernmental Affairs and Justice, Standing Committee on Human Services, Standing Committee on Private Bills, Caucus Committee for Municipal Cooperation and the Caucus Management Committee.

Controversies

Drunk driving

Olauson was one of several candidates during the 2016 election who were previously convicted of drunk driving. Olauson's two convictions were from 1992 and 1993 and were not disclosed during his time as a city councilor.

Social media

Shortly after his election to provincial office, Olauson was reprimanded for his social media activity, which included liking a Facebook post about "slapping the shit" out of political opponents and liking a Facebook page called the "Boobszone." As a result of this, the Sask Party government temporarily ordered Olauson to stay off of social media and removed him from a committee seat.

Background checks

In April 2017, Olauson was dropped from the board for the Meewasin Valley Authority after it was reported he had ordered a background check on a constituent voicing her concerns regarding cuts to libraries and municipal funding. Olauson had accidentally hit "reply all" instead of just reply when emailing his assistant to instruct her to perform the check. The email stated that his ensuing response would be "epic."

Finances

As the Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport, Olauson received an additional $3,000 salary top up from the Saskatchewan Party, aside from the base pay for Members of the Legislative Assembly, which is $96,183, despite there being no record or reports of work done in this position. Prior to his early departure from Saskatoon City Council, Olauson charged the city $440 for four football jerseys, billed as a supposed communication expense. In 2015, he voted against the Saskatoon Municipal Review Commission's proposal to end corporate and union donations, which was rejected in a 7-4 vote by the city council.

Political views

Abortion

Olauson has participated in the anti-abortion March for Life protests in Ottawa while serving as a provincial MLA. In the 2018 Saskatchewan Party leadership election, Olauson supported Ken Cheveldayoff, who had stated that he doesn't believe rape victims should have legal access to abortion services, earning him the anti-abortion group Right Now's top rank out of the six leadership candidates. While the Saskatchewan Party caucus debated expanding access to abortion medication, Minister of Health

Greg Ottenbreit Greg Ottenbreit (born November 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician. He was elected to represent the electoral district of Yorkton in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 election. He is a member of the Saskatchewan Party. Before ...

told an anti-abortion group he would do what he could in his "professional capacity" to block abortion access. It was leaked that Olauson, as chair of the Saskatchewan Party caucus, issued a gag order, telling members to not talk to the media about Ottenbreit's anti-abortion views.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olauson, Eric Living people Saskatchewan Party MLAs Saskatoon city councillors 21st-century Canadian politicians Year of birth missing (living people)