(Winnipeg) Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools, died Monday at the age of 73.
Published at 11:15 a.m.
Updated at 11:47 a.m.
Brittany Hobson
The Canadian Press
Mr. Sinclair, born at a time when Indigenous peoples did not yet have the right to vote, became one of the most decorated and influential people to work in the field of justice and advocacy natives.
A former judge and senator, one of Mr. Sinclair’s most important roles was chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
He died Monday morning in a Winnipeg hospital, announced his son Niigaan Sinclair.
Mr. Sinclair was a father of five and a grandfather.
His traditional Anishinabe name was Mizhana Gheezhik or “He who speaks of images in the sky.”
Born in 1951, Mr. Sinclair grew up on the former St. Peter’s reserve, north of Winnipeg. He was a member of the Peguis First Nation.
He was raised by his grandparents and graduated from high school in Selkirk, Manitoba, where he excelled in athletics.
Some of his earliest childhood memories were published earlier this year in his memoir, Who We Are : Four Questions for a Life and a Nation.
In this book, Murray Sinclair describes the discrimination he faced as an Anishinabe in a non-Indigenous school.
Although I and others have succeeded in this system, it has not been without cost to our own humanity and sense of self-respect. This is the legacy we all suffer today.
Excerpt from the memoirs of Murray Sinclair
Mr Sinclair then worked as an aide to MP Howard Pawley, before the latter became Prime Minister.
First Indigenous judge in Manitoba
In 1979, Murray Sinclair received his law degree from the University of Manitoba.
In 11 years, he became Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge – the second in Canada – when he was appointed Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court. In 2001, he was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench.
In all, he served as a judge for 28 years.
PHOTO FRED CHARTRAND, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Murray Sinclair
He was co-chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal Peoples, which sought to determine whether the justice system had failed Aboriginal people following the murder of Helen Betty Osborne and the shooting death of JJ Harper by the police.
Mr. Sinclair also led the Commission of Inquiry into the Child Cardiac Surgery Unit following the deaths of 12 children at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre.
As head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada and heard testimony from thousands of residential school survivors.
The commissioners released their highly influential final report in 2015, which described what happened at these institutions as cultural genocide and included 94 calls for action.
“Education is the key to reconciliation,” said Mr. Sinclair. Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it. »
A life marked by several distinctions
Two years later, he and the other commissioners received the Meritorious Service Cross for their work. It was one of many honors Mr. Sinclair received during his career.
In 1994, he received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, in the field of justice. In 2017, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the organization.
He also received the Manitoba Bar Association’s Excellence in Equality Award in 2001 and the Canadian Bar Association President’s Medal in 2018.
In 2016, Murray Sinclair was appointed to the Senate. He retired from this position in 2021.
The following year, he received the Order of Canada for devoting his life to defending the rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples.
In accepting the honor, Sinclair said he wanted to show the country that working on Indigenous issues requires a national effort.
“When I talk to young people, I always tell them that we all have a responsibility to do our best and be the best we can be,” he said.
Murray Sinclair has limited his public engagements in recent years due to declining health.
