The Online Guide to Thomas R. Berger

Life

Thomas Berger recounts the events of his life in One Man’s Justice: A Life in the Law. This memoir, written in 2002 and available to order on Amazon, is mainly comprised of descriptions of Berger’s most memorable cases, but also narrates his life outside of law and expresses his opinions on Canadian politics. It was nominated for the Hubert Evans Non Fiction Prize in 2003. Also available on Amazon is Hard Choices: A Life of Thomas Berger, a biography written by Carolyn Swayze in 1986. Carolyn Swayze, a former student of Berger at the University of Victoria, chronicles Berger’s life and provides context for many of his successes in law andpolicy. The biography focuses on Berger’s career and is divided into chapters according to the many roles Berger has taken on throughout his life (lawyer, politician, writer, rights advocate, etc). While the biography contains many interesting details about Berger’s career, though, critics agree that in both style and scope this biography cannot compare to Berger’s own reflections on his life and career.

Thomas Berger is also allotted an entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia. This entry gives an overview of Thomas Berger. The primary focus is on Berger’s career, though, not his early life. The entry represents him as an important Canadian figure and, as a result, all the information offered is related to Berger’s career and influence. Similarly, the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law offers a profile on Thomas Berger’s law career as part of their Alumni Profilesseries. This profile outlines the defining moments in Berger’s career – with particular emphasis onthe events that turned him into a national figure – such as the Calder v. Attorney General of British Columbia case of 1973, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1974-1977), and his resignation from the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1983.

One of the most recent biographical profiles for Thomas Berger is found on The Conference Board of Canada website. In 2009, the Conference Board of Canada selected Thomas Berger as a 2009-2010 CIBC Scholar-in-Residence. The biography that accompanies the announcement on this website places particular emphasis on Berger’s incredible contributions to Aboriginal rights and development policies in the Canadian North. This makes up the majority of the content for this biographical note, as Berger’s appointment as CIBC Scholar-in-Residence is based on his knowledge of land-use planning and communities in the North.