Oscar Douglas Hillgaar (born 8 November 1945) is a Norwegian politician formerly representing the Progress Party. He was born in

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

, and is of Irish descent. He attended the

Norwegian Naval Academy The Royal Norwegian Naval Academy (RNoNA, ''Sjøkrigsskolen'' in Norwegian) is located at Laksevåg in Bergen. It was formally established 27 October 1817 in Frederiksvern. The institution educates officers for the Royal Norwegian Navy. History ...

from 1966 to 1967, and served in the Royal Norwegian Navy in Tromsø from 1967 to 1968. He worked as an air traffic controller assistant at Lakselv Airport, Banak from 1968 to 1969, then took air traffic controller education from 1969 to 1971. After completing his education he worked at

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

, Bardufoss, Karmøy and Fornebu until 1989. Hillgaar entered politics to fight for traffic safety in his own neighborhood. He was a member of Sandefjord municipal council from 1983 to 1995, serving as deputy mayor from 1987 to 1989. From 1983 to 1987 he was also a member of Vestfold county council. He chaired the local chapter of the Progress Party from 1982 to 1990. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from Vestfold in 1989, and was re-elected in 1993. He served the first term in the

Standing Committee on Agriculture The Standing Committee on Agriculture is a committee of the Australian House of Representatives. The committee is a "General Purpose Standing Committee" governed by Standing Order 215. It consists of nine members, five government members and fo ...

, and the second term in the

Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment The Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment ( no, Energi- og miljøkomiten) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to petroleum, energy, hydroelectricity, environmental protection and re ...

. Following the

1994 Progress Party national convention The 1994 national convention of the Progress Party of Norway was held from 15 April to 17 April at the hotel Bolkesjø Turisthotell in Bolkesjø, Telemark. It was originally set up to be a normal convention with 157 delegates in a non-election ye ...

he left the Progress Party. Ahead of the convention he had submitted party-critical resolutions together with

Ellen Wibe Ellen Margrethe Wibe (born 9 January 1965) is a Norwegian communications worker, society commentator and former politician. She was active in politics for five years for the Progress Party. From 1993 until 1994 she was the first deputy leader of ...

Ellen Christine Christiansen Ellen Christine Christiansen (born 10 December 1964) is a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party and formerly the Progress Party. Born in Oslo, she finished her secondary education at Oslo Commerce School in 1983. She thereupon ...

Stephen Bråthen Stephen Bråthen (born 2 September 1964) is a Norwegian politician formerly representing the Progress Party (Norway), Progress Party. He was born in Lørenskog. He took a basic education in economics before enrolling in the Norwegian Armed Forces. ...

and

Roy Wetterstad Roy Nettum Wetterstad (born 22 March 1963) is a Norwegian politician formerly representing the Progress Party. He was born in Kongsberg. He attended commerce school in Kongsberg and Hønefoss from 1979 to 1982, then worked two years for the You ...

. The group had some support, but was a clear minority. During the convention, Hillgaar publicly lamented the "

Moscow processes The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of the ...

" of the convention, and also the views on women and the "extreme xenophobia" which he felt was conveyed by the party program. He left the party a week after the convention. He continued the rest of the term as an independent. There were talks about him fielding in the 1997 election for the Free Democrats, but this did not happen. From 1997 to 2005 he worked as a supervisor at the Oslo Air Traffic Control Center. From 1998 to 2000 he was also a secretary for the trade union Norwegian Air Traffic Controllers' Association. From 1999 to 2002 he was the deputy chair of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party ( nb, Arbeiderpartiet; nn, Arbeidarpartiet; A/Ap; se, Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party ( no, Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centr ...

in Sandefjord. From 2003 to 2007 he served a fourth term in Sandefjord's municipal council. Already in 1994 he had stated that were it not for the circumstances in Sandefjord politics, he might as well have joined the Labour Party—or the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

—already in the 1980s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillgaar, Oscar 1945 births Living people Norwegian air traffic controllers Members of the Storting Vestfold politicians Progress Party (Norway) politicians Labour Party (Norway) politicians People from Tvedestrand People from Sandefjord Norwegian people of Irish descent Norwegian people of Spanish descent Norwegian people of Swedish descent Irish people of Spanish descent Irish people of Swedish descent Spanish people of Swedish descent Royal Norwegian Naval Academy alumni Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Air traffic controllers 20th-century Norwegian politicians