[1] Berntson was widely regarded to be one of the most powerful members of the Devine government, arguably exercising more influence than the premier himself.
[3] 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.
[4] After the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his attempt to overturn his fraud conviction, Berntson resigned from the Senate on February 27, 2001.
[5] 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.