Thomas R. Berger

Thomas Rodney Berger, OC , OBC (born March 23, 1933) is a Canadian politician and jurist of Swedish descent. Berger was the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party for most of 1969, prior to David Barrett.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, as the son of RMP police man Theodor Berger and his wife Perle McDonald. Theodor Berger was the son of Ivar Theodor Berger (1861-1937), who was a police judge in Gothenburg and his wife, Baroness Hedvig Taube af Odenkat, a member of the Swedish nobility. Thomas R. Berger was elected, at the age of 29, to the House of Commons in the 1962 election, representing the riding of Vancouver—Burrard for the New Democratic Party. However, in the 1963 election, he was defeated by Liberal opponent Ron Basford.

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 1966 BC election. Described as a "Young Turk" and "young man in a hurry", Berger challenged long-time BC CCF/NDP leader Robert Strachan for the party leadership in 1967. Strachan defeated Berger but, sensing the winds of change, resigned in 1969. Berger defeated another young MLA, Dave Barrett to win the leadership convention and was widely expected to lead the NDP to its first ever general election victory. Social Credit Premier W.A.C. Bennett called an early snap election and, instead of victory, Berger's NDP lost four seats. He quickly resigned and was succeeded by Dave Barrett.Johnson, William, "Two heroic men in a conflict", "Globe and Mail", July 6, 1983]

Appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1971, he served on the bench until 1983. Berger has worked extremely hard to ensure that industrial development on Aboriginal people's land resulted in benefits to those indigenous people. He may be best known for his work as commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry which released its findings in 1977.

Berger was appointed chair of the Vancouver Election Commission in 2003, and led several public meetings on electoral reform in the early months of 2004. The Commission recommended changing Vancouver's at-large system of representation with individual wards; however, this recommendation was defeated in a referendum held on October 16, 2004.

Berger completed "The Nunavut Project" in 2006. This is a report of recommendations to implement Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (Inuit Employment within Government). This report was the result of being appointed conciliator in 2005 to resolve the impasse of the Government of Canada, Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated to update and amend the Nunavut Implementation Contract.

In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a member of the Order of British Columbia. As of 2006 he sits on the advisory council of the Order of Canada, which researches the merits of future members of the Order and advises the Governor General of Canada on new appointments. He is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada, student #S153.

References

External links

* [http://www.tunngavik.ca/publications/berger-conciliation/final-report2006-en.pdf The Nunavut Project]