Somewhere in between lies the truth..
This argument about the berm seems to have become very polarised.
As someone who knew all the crew allow me to give my (hopefully unbiased) take.
1) Of course the berm did not cause the accident, human error did that.
2) Mere compliance with the regulations does not necesarily make the presence of the berm acceptable. The investigators of this accident clearly believe the berm played a role. From page 77, para 4.3.1:
"The Board is concerned that, because man-made objects, such as the berms off the ends of runways 06 and 24 at Halifax International Airport, are not evaluated in terms of their potential risk to aircraft landing or taking off, there is the potential that an unnecessary hazard may be allowed to exist when mitigation for such risk may be reasonably undertaken."
The way I read this is that the YHZ airport authority chose to take what used to be a long and clear over-run area, and spoiled it by placing an earthen berm on it, when there were other options available which could have achieved their aims and maintained a nice clear over-run.
That is not to say that any airport with such obstacles is automatically unsafe, just that it is a bit silly to place an obstacle where there is a remote possibility of it playing a part in an accident, when other options exist.