CBC Archives

Have students imagine that they were going to gather information in order to make a recommendation on the issue of the Northern pipeline. Ask them to brainstorm what approach they would take to gather the information. Then ask: How would you factor in the biases of interviewees in your decision making process?

As a class, summarize the Berger report and its recommendations. (If students have not completed the activity Who Gains from the Pipeline? they can complete it now, or they can view the higher-numbered clips on the Berger Pipeline Inquiry topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site to find out the recommendations of the report.)

In teams or individually, students should develop a plan for gathering facts, opinions, and economic and political considerations regarding the Northern pipeline. Using their plan, they should create an organizer on which they can gather their information. Then direct them to the Berger Pipeline Inquiry topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site and have them complete their organizer. Students should use their information to create their own report and recommendations about the pipeline.

Have each group share its report with the class. Students should compare and contrast reports, noting whether groups agreed with one another, whether they agreed with Berger, in which areas they disagreed, whether there were areas where all reports were unanimous, and so on. Students should explain the reasons for the similarities and differences.

Students can estimate the time it would have taken to prepare the real report, and how much money might have been charged to the government to do so. They can research this information on the topic site, then discuss in small groups whether Berger spent too much time or money on this report.

Interested student may wish to find other examples of government funded reports, and analyze the time and money spent and the effect of the recommendations. How do these reports compare to the Berger Report?