VANCOUVER – Thomas Berger, a British Columbia politician, lawyer, judge and commissioner whose work led Canada to recognize Aboriginal title to land, has died of cancer at the age of 88.

Berger’s daughter, Erin Berger, said Thursday her dad was active until hours before his death Wednesday.

That was despite receiving a diagnosis of terminal cancer just two months earlier, with a prognosis of six months to live.

“He wanted that. Just a fast departure,” she said in a telephone interview.

The man she described as “someone who never wasted his time,” had been revising his obituary, coming up with more book ideas and sifting through boxes of old papers, notes and cases.

“We kept finding more,” Berger said of the archiving of her dad’s files.

“He would say, ‘Oh, that’s a landmark in labour law, that’s a landmark ruling on Indigenous rights,” he was hitting so many different areas of law,” she said.

Berger retired last year at the age of 87 but was still awaiting a court ruling on what will now be his final case, this one representing Manitoba Metis, Erin Berger said.

His daughter, also a lawyer, worked side-by-side with her dad for 15 years and said the key to his prolific and groundbreaking production was that he loved the work he did.

His arguments before various courts of appeal or victories at the Supreme Court of Canada were “just good, hard work that he always enjoyed,” said Erin Berger.

B.C. Premier John Horgan says Berger was a “giant,” who “spent a lifetime working to address injustice.”“

Berger was a former leader of B.C.’s New Democratic Party, and a B.C. Supreme Court justice, but it was his belief in Indigenous rights and his compassionate management of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry that confirmed his place as an icon of legal and social justice.

Berger acted for Nisga’a elders in 1973 in a Supreme Court of Canada appeal that resulted in the first-ever acknowledgment of the existence of Aboriginal title to land.

Horgan says Berger’s work as commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline inquiry in the early 1970s was an “unprecedented public consultation process” highlighting unresolved land claims and the threat to wildlife and an entire way of life in Northern Canada.

Berger made it a point of asking Indigenous citizens how he should conduct the pipeline inquiry. He spent the better part of three months in the North, including Whitehorse and Old Crow, collecting northerners’ views on the subject. In the end, he called for a 10-year moratorium on the pipeline.

He also worked with CBC North to ensure the hearings were broadcast to northerners in several dialects.

Berger, a Queen’s Council, received the Order of Canada in 1990 and the Order of British Columbia in 2004.

A statement from the premier’s office says Berger is owed a debt of thanks and gratitude.

“He spent a lifetime moving all of us towards a just society,” Horgan said in the statement.

“His kindness and generosity will long be remembered. His thinking will continue to influence us for generations to come.”

Jody Wilson-Raybould, a former federal justice minister and Independent member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, says in a social media message that Berger was a “great champion of Indigenous peoples and rights.

“A true trailblazer who helped change this country for the better while personally sacrificing to do so,” writes Wilson-Raybould.

Late in his career, Berger acted for several Yukon First Nations and environmental organizations in their land use planning battle against the government led by former premier Darrell Pasloski.

The Supreme Court of Canada ultimately ruled in December 2017 that Pasloski’s pro-development Yukon Party regime had acted improperly in changes it had made to the land use plan for the territory”s Peel River Watershed region.

Pasloski had essentially refused to discuss his party’s plans for the Peel basin during the 2011 election campaign, which he won.

Currie Dixon, who now leads the party, admitted during the recent territorial election campaign that the government for which he’d been the Environment minister had made mistakes in its handling of the Peel controversy.

The Yukon Conservation Society offered it condolences on Berger’s passing on Thursday.

“The Yukon Conservation Society is saddened to learn of the passing of Thomas Berger, QC OC OBC,” the organization said.

“He will be remembered in the North for many things, but especially for his role as the Royal Commissioner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry in the 1970s and more recently for being the lead lawyer for certain Yukon First Nation governments and environmental non-governmental organizations on the Peel Watershed case.

“The Yukon Conservation Society extends its deepest condolences to his family and colleagues. His legacy of environmental protection in the Yukon will long be honoured.”

Nunavut Premier Joe Savikataaq said Thursday, “It’s with sadness that we say goodbye to Justice Thomas Berger, who leaves a great legacy and impact across Canada’s North.

“Berger’s numerous contributions to the well-being and advancement of marginalized Indigenous and Inuit populations have touched Nunavut significantly.

“His 2005 Nunavut Project report was critical in outlining the path forward for meaningful Nunavut Inuit participation in our territory and society.

“He also presided over the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, which set the standard for consultation with Indigenous peoples over development of their lands, and set the stage for the conclusion of land claim agreements in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut,” Savikataaq added.

“His influence on Indigenous law and social justice across the country will be long-lasting. I’m sending condolences and strength to his family, friends and loved ones,” Savikataaq added.