Former judge and senator Murray Sinclair dies at 73 By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 9:15 AM CST Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 Last Modified: 8:01 PM CST Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 Updates

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Whether as a lawyer, judge, commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, senator, or family man, Murray Sinclair is being remembered for bringing reconciliation to the national consciousness to change the lives of Indigenous people in Manitoba and across the country.

Sinclair, whose spirit name was Mizhana Gheezhik (The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky) died early Monday at St. Boniface Hospital surrounded by family. He was 73.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to Sinclair both on social media and in the House of Commons saying he “leaves behind an extraordinary legacy.

“With his passing, Canada has lost a giant — a brilliant legal mind, a champion of Indigenous rights, and a trusted leader on our journey of reconciliation. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my deepest condolences to his children Dene, Niigaan, Gazheek, Kizhay and Miskodagwaaginikwe, his friends, and his colleagues as well as to Indigenous Peoples across Canada.

“He will be missed.”

Premier Wab Kinew, who helped set up a sacred fire that will burn on the north side of the legislative building grounds until Sinclair’s funeral later this week, called him “a great Canadian, a great Manitoban, a great Anishinaabe.

“His career stands as a legacy of public service and a deep commitment to truth, fairness, and dignity for all people … It will be a long time before our nation produces another person the calibre of Murray Sinclair. He showed us there is no reconciliation without truth. We should hold dear in our hearts his words that our nation is on the cusp of a great new era and we must all ‘dare to live greatly together.’”

Sinclair was born in the former St. Peter’s Indian Reserve, north of Winnipeg. He was raised by his grandparents in Selkirk, along with his two brothers and a sister, after his mother died when he was a year old.

“We know that stories of his kindness, generosity and fairness will circulate for generations to come.”–Sinclair family

In a statement released Monday morning, the Sinclair family said “the impact of our dad’s work reached far across the country and the world.

“From residential school survivors to law students, to those who sat across from him in a courtroom, he was always known as an exceptional listener who treated everyone with dignity and respect.

“We know that stories of his kindness, generosity and fairness will circulate for generations to come.”

His first steps to a lifetime of leadership came when he was elected local vice president for the Manitoba Métis Federation and then became future NDP premier Howard Pawley’s executive assistant.

Sinclair graduated from the University of Manitoba’s law school and was called to the bar in 1980. He represented Indigenous people and First Nation communities until 1988 when he was named associate chief judge, the first Aboriginal judge to be appointed to the provincial court.

“He was and will be remembered as a born leader with great intelligence and great integrity.”–Gary Doer

Former NDP premier Gary Doer, then a member of Pawley’s cabinet, still remembers the cabinet meeting which changed Sinclair’s life.

“Howard Pawley was premier and he knew Murray Sinclair,” said Doer. “He was a strong advocate for his appointment to the bench. Normally, you’re not allowed to divulge cabinet meetings, but in this case I will.

“Murray had such great approval in the room. It was a very good consensus in nominating Murray Sinclair to become a judge. It turned out to be a very wise decision by Howard Pawley.

“I just remember we all felt very good coming out of that meeting. He was and will be remembered as a born leader with great intelligence and great integrity.”

“Murray was a truly historic and exemplary figure who both inspired and challenged a generation of Canadians.”–Chief Justice Glenn Joyal

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal appeared before Sinclair many times as a Crown attorney and private lawyer early in his career. Later, Joyal would become a colleague on the bench.

“Murray was a truly historic and exemplary figure who both inspired and challenged a generation of Canadians,” Joyal said. “His impact was, and I think it will remain, monumental, and I think that’s not really an exaggeration when you think of the context of his various roles.

“His legacy is unquestioned — it’s a significant loss.”

A month after being appointed judge, Sinclair was tapped to be co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry.

The three-year inquiry, sparked by the police shooting of Indigenous leader J.J. Harper and the murder of Helen Betty Osborne, a Cree teen in The Pas, laid bare the systemic racism that still plagues the criminal justice system. Sinclair and co-commissioner Judge Alvin Hamilton made nearly 300 recommendations.

In 2013, on the 25th anniversary of the inquiry, Sinclair said some progress had been made but expressed concern he wouldn’t see tangible movement on some of the more sweeping recommendations, such as the creation of a separate aboriginal justice system, in his lifetime.

“The same factors that spoke to over-incarceration in 1991 when we did our analysis — the systemic discrimination, the lack of employment, the lack of social programs that address crime and misbehaviour, the poor educational attainment, higher suicide rates — are still present,” he said at the time.

“But I think we’re also now beginning to see and understand the inter-generational implications of residential schools.”

A life in pictures: Hon. Murray Sinclair

In 1994, Sinclair led the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest that reviewed the deaths of 12 children at the Health Sciences Centre. He often said the inquest, which spanned five years, exacted a profound emotional toll and was one of the reasons why he initially refused to lead the country’s reconciliation process.

“Hardly a week goes by that I don’t think about those kids,” Sinclair told the Free Press on the 20th anniversary of the inquest.

Sinclair was subsequently appointed a Court of King’s Bench justice, also a first for a Manitoba Indigenous person.

He moved to the national stage in 2009 as he began a six-year journey as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The cross-country odyssey exploring the devastating impact of the residential school system resulted in 94 calls to action, which has helped reshape Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples.

“Education is the key to reconciliation,” Sinclair said at the time. “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it.”

In his memoir Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation, which was published in September, Sinclair wrote listening to stories from the mouths of residential school survivors affected him deeply.

“My view and my comment is that being in charge of the TRC and being involved in all of those hearings, and listening to all those survivors, profoundly changed my way of thinking about the government, thinking about Canadian society, and thinking about how far we have to go in order to restore Indigenous peoples’ self-respect,” he wrote.

‘A story worth finding’: In new book, Murray Sinclair recounts pivotal decision to reclaim Indigenous identity

Trudeau appointed Sinclair a senator in 2016. He served until retiring in 2021 and becoming chancellor of Queen’s University until June of this year.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal said he had met Sinclair years earlier when he was a youth worker and relished the chance to work with him later in life.

“He certainly awakened by spirit to politics and Indigenous justice issues at that time,” said Vandal. “I began a journey thanks, in large part, to the work and the words of Murray Sinclair.

“Here I would talk to him about reconciliation issues — there was no one more knowledgeable, kinder and wiser to chat with. I’m incredibly sad today and I think all of Canada is.”

Sinclair was honoured during his lifetime with the Order of Canada and Order of Manitoba. He also received dozens of honorary degrees from universities. A bronze bust is part of the Citizens Hall of Fame in Assiniboine Park.

Sinclair was predeceased by his wife, Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair, in June, and is survived by five children and five grandchildren.

“The city has to see itself as a city that includes Indigenous people in prominent ways, not just as a problem in part of the city,” Sinclair said in 2022 when he became the first Indigenous member of the roll of luminaries.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

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Kevin Rollason
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Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.