Leo Withnol Bertley

It is with deep regret that I inform you of the passing of Leo W. Bertley on December 6, 2006. Leo was a member of the History Department since 1970 and recently retired in June 2006.

Visitation will be at the Rideau Funeral Home, 4275 Sources Blvd., D.D.O. on Tuesday, December 12 from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m The Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, December 13 at 10:00 a.m. at Ste. Suzanne Parish, 9501 Gouin Blvd., in Pierrefonds.

At the request of the family, in lieu of flowers, please send donations in his memory to the Deborah Bertley Education Fund, P.O. Box 119, Station St. Laurent, Saint-Laurent, QC, H4L 4V4 or NOVA (VON) West Island, 422, Beaconsfield Blvd., Beaconsfield, QC, H9W 4B7.

On behalf of the Vanier Community, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

Sincerely,
Gilbert Héroux
Director General


To his students at Vanier College, where he taught history for 36 years, he was affectionately known as The Bertz.

Leo Withnol Bertley, many of those students will tell you, was unconventional, stubborn, passionate, stimulating, dogmatic and undoubtedly the best Afrocentric history teacher around.

One of the co-founders of the Garvey Institute in Montreal and a founding editor of the community newspaper Afro-Can, which later became The Afro-Canadian, Bertley died of cancer Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at the West Island Palliative Care Centre. He was 72.

“He was no respecter of officialdom, that’s for sure,” said longtime friend Clarence Bayne, a professor at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. “He was highly motivated, very articulate and in many ways opinionated, very focused in trying to define himself and black culture.

“His legacy is that, notwithstanding his attitude, he made a significant contribution in raising the consciousness of the contributions of black people to the history of Quebec and Canada.

“Even if he passionately disagreed with you, you were always entertained by his arguments. His influence in the black community was important. “

Bertley, the youngest of four children in a mechanical engineer’s family, was born on May 21, 1934, in Pointe-a-Pierre, Trinidad. He was a brilliant student who was educated at private schools, including St. Benedict’s Prep School and Presentation College, where he played soccer and was captain of the cricket team.

“My parents ingrained my history in me, taught me its worth and its importance. It is inbred and I won’t forget it,” he once told a reporter. “You need a sense of who you are and where you came from to understand where you stand. Once you know that, regardless of what colour you are, there’s no need to look down on anyone else.”

Bertley came to Canada in 1954 as an Island Scholar to study at McGill, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Latin and Social Studies in 1957. He continued his education at Sir George Williams University and received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1960.

He studied pedagogy at the Universite de Montreal, and earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Ottawa in 1963.

He later got his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in History at Concordia. He received a Class A teaching diploma from the Quebec government in 1970. He helped found the Black Board of Education and was its first principal.

His book Black Tiles in the Mosaic, published in 1974, was one of the first to document blacks’ contributions to Canadian history. He also wrote Canada and its People of African Descent, considered a seminal textbook by many.

In 1983, Bertley disrupted a parliamentary inquiry into racism. MPs complained that in presenting his brief to the committee, Bertley resorted to abusive sarcasm and was biased. Bertley was unapologetic, accusing the MPs of placing their own value judgments on his style.

Bertley, who was also an officer in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, retired from Vanier in 2006. He is survived by his wife, June Miller, whom he married in 1958, and by their three sons. A daughter died in 1989.

(adapted from ‘”The Bertz’ co-founded Black Board of Education”, Alan Hustak, The Gazette, Dec 9, 2006. pg. A.8 )


Read a memoir written by a childhood friend of Leo Bertley’s, Harry Ramlakhan.

Dear Sir,

I was saddened to read on the internet recently that my old childhood school friend, Leo Withnol Bertley had passed away. I had particular reason to remember him, because I unwittingly played a critical role in his early career. Since his biographers may want to have any information that might give an insight to the Man, my little story might help.

Withnol and I attended the Pointe-a-Pierre Government Primary school between 1942 to 1944. We were friends, walking to and from school along the railway line, from Tulip Avenue. However, Withnol was a year ahead of me in school, though only a few months older than me. In 1943 I was in Std 1 class, he was in Std 2. But after end of year exams, Withnol moved on to Std 3, and I got to skip Std 2 because of exceptional performance, and met up with Withnol in Std 3.

So far so good. We had our first term test, and I was pleased to place 1st, with Withnol being 2nd. I can only surmise now (based on some of LWB’s words about his father), that Withnol had a lot of explaining to do to his father, as to how this little ‘coolie’ boy could come from nowhere and beat him. Possibly because at lunch- time a few of us little boys were playing around the teachers desk, Withnol apparently suggested there might have been interference with the test marks. Well, Mr Bertley the father, came to the School and strongly complained that his son was cheated. He was assured by the teacher that no such thing was possible, but he was not satisfied, and took Withnol out of the school. What Mr Bertley did not know, is that my father gave me extra lessons at home, and although he himself only went to Std 4, he was able to teach me sufficiently at this stage. So it was no mystery that I was able to beat a whole class who were one year ahead of me.

So it was Withnol’s good luck that he was bested by me in class. It enabled him to be moved to a school with vastly superior teaching, and if the perceived hurt at Pointe-e-Pierre Government School rankled a bit, that would have motivated him admirably to do his best, which he did, Oh so well!

Withnol was my friend, and I am very proud of his achievements. And sad about his illness. I am just so sorry that we never met again. I congratulate his wife and children on having had so great a husband and father.

I hope this will add a little bit to ‘The Bertz’s’ story.

Very Sincerely,
Harry Ramlakhan

Posted in 2000-2009

In the event that a member of the Vanier community learns about the passing of either a current or a former employee, please contact Isabelle Moncion, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, directly at extension 7543 or via email so that we can communicate the information/funeral details to you as quickly as possible.Thank you for your collaboration.

Joe Torino:

Thank you for being a very positive influence RIP Mr Bertley (soccer coach) and friend!

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