Gratitude for Thomas Berger

 

Canada regularly shows up on lists of top countries in the world in which to live. although witth the caveat that this is not the reality for Indigenous peoples. Our version of apartheid has been our shame, with efforts to subjugate and assimilate Indigenous people going back centuries.

The Residential School system forcibly removed children from their families and communities using education as the front for cultural genocide. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of those children died and thousands more were scarred for life by the experiences of abuse. 

Several Christian denominations were complicit in the Residential School system, including the United Church of Canada. We have apologized for our role, made reparations, and participated in efforts to make amends. The UCC was active in the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission which made its way across the country, listening to stories of pain and dispossession. This is our national and denominational shame, and while promises and recommendations have been made toward restoring "all my relations" they have too often been broken or ignored. 

Someone who attempted to address the inequities was Thomas Berger, a politician and lawyer and judge. Berger was one of the first to truly listen and address treaties which were ignored and violated and helped change the conversation regarding Canada's relationship with Indigenous peoples. Here is how the CBC describes Berger and his legacy: 

The former B.C. Supreme Court judge, NDP politician and lawyer was best known for his work to recognize Indigenous land claims. Berger, who died Wednesday after a battle with cancer, is also being remembered for his compassion and respect for Indigenous rights.Former Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus recalled how Berger argued for the Nisga'a Nation in the landmark case Calder vs. British Columbia early in his law career in the late 1960s. The eventual Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 1973 marked the first time the nation's legal system acknowledged the existence of Aboriginal title to land.

As a young lawyer he stuck his neck out. Not very many people believed we had treaty or Aboriginal rights. Today, it's common," Erasmus said.Appointed to the B.C. Supreme Court in the early 1970s, Berger also led an inquiry that put a pipeline project in the Mackenzie Valley on hold. In that role, Erasmus said Berger visited dozens of communities along the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories and Yukon."He did that because he wanted to listen to the people who were on the land and knew the issues of ownership — and so, on that, was really groundbreaking."

I remember listening to reports about the work Berger was engaged in when I was in my late teens and early twenties, although I didn't really appreciate the implications. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Berger for calling Canadians to account through the legal system. He understood truth and reconciliation long before it became a phrase for politicians and others. 

We can also be grateful for Justice Berge's humanity and respect for Indigenous peoples. How is it that some people see through the injustices which become ingrained in societies? There are still lessons to be learned from Berger as we continue to muddle our way through treaty rights in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and other parts of the country.