Home · Politics · Rights & Freedoms · The Berger Pipeline Inquiry
Topic spans: 1973 - 1978
The Berger Pipeline Inquiry
It was going to be the biggest private construction project in history. But before a pipeline could be built from the Beaufort Sea to energy-hungry markets in the south, the impact on the North's people, economy and environment had to be determined. That task was given to Justice Thomas Berger, who embarked on an extraordinary three-year odyssey across the Arctic. His report shocked the government that appointed him, and was heralded by some as "Canada's Native Charter of Rights."
Main topic image by Gilbert Alexander Milne/National Archives of Canada/PA-166075
10 television clips
11 radio clips
Berger Inquiry hearings conclude
Broadcast Date: Nov. 21, 1976
After more than two years of hearings, the Berger Inquiry hearings wrap up. As Justice Berger gets ready to write his two-volume report, CBC reporters Ken McCreath and Whit Fraser review the final messages presented by each side. The oil men say the North will become a welfare state without a pipeline, and warn against further delays. Native groups present a common front: no pipeline should be built until land claims are settled.Berger Inquiry hearings conclude
• Throughout the Berger Inquiry, CBC Radio broadcast the hearings live in English as well as six native languages from almost every community. In this manner residents across the North heard — in their own language — what had been said in previous hearings. As a result, residents were well-informed and felt more comfortable testifying when the hearings arrived in their community. It was the start of native-language CBC broadcasting in the North.• Abraham "Abe" Okpik, a respected Inuk (Inuit person), was a translator for CBC during the inquiry. In 1965 Okpik became the first Inuk to be appointed to the Northwest Territories Territorial Council. Between 1968 and 1970, he headed "Project Surname," which visited every Inuit home and asked the head of the family to choose a surname to replace the government-assigned numbers they had used since the 1940s. Okpik received the Order of Canada soon after.
Berger Inquiry hearings conclude
Medium: Radio
Program: Sunday Magazine
Broadcast Date: Nov. 21, 1976
Guest(s): John Bailey, Pierre Genet, Joe Tobey, Ron Vale
Host: Bob Oxley
Reporter: Whit Fraser, Ken McCreath
Duration: 13:59
Last updated:
Sept. 6, 2002
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21 clips in this topic . page
Berger Inquiry hearings conclude.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Sept. 6, 2002.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]