Thomas Berger (Canadian politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Rodney Berger, OC , OBC (born March 23, 1933) is a Canadian politician 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, he was elected 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, and served as interim leader of the provincial New Democrats between the resignation of Robert Strachan and the election of Dave Barrett.

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.

Preceded by John Russell Taylor	Member of Parliament for Vancouver—Burrard 1962-1963	Succeeded by Ron Basford
Preceded by Robert Strachan	Leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (interim) 1969–1969	Succeeded by Dave Barrett