On the Passing of Murray Sinclair
Murray Sinclair, the Anishnaabe former judge and senator who led Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), has passed at 73.
A father of five and grandfather, Sinclair was a deeply committed advocate and national leader involved with numerous issues impacting the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada, most notably Indigenous-government relations. He dedicated his life’s work to addressing the glaring inequities many Indigenous communities face as the result of colonial policy.
Raised by his grandparents, both residential school survivors, on the former St. Peter’s Indian Reserve near Selkirk, Sinclair graduated with a law degree from the University of Manitoba and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980. He practised law for 11 years before becoming the first Indigenous judge in the province, and the second in the country.
As chair of the TRC, one of the most important official bodies in recent Canadian history, Sinclair spent six years compiling testimony regarding the shocking abuses endured by the survivors of residential schools, which operated in Canada from 1831 to 1996. The TRC released the final report of its findings, including the 94 Calls to Action, in 2015.
Calls to Action 62 to 65 concern education, because Sinclair recognized the significant role the education system plays in reconciliation.
“Education got us into this mess. Education will get us out,” he said. “I said that on the final day of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Education is not about being in school. Education is about learning what it means to be a human being,”
Sinclair also served as co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, commissioned in 1988, was a senator from 2016 to 2021, and received the Order of Canada in 2022.
His traditional name was Mizhana Gheezhik (The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky). A sacred fire will be lit in Sinclair’s honour on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building, on the spot where the statue of Queen Victoria once stood.
Photo by: John Kristalovich
