Interlake-Eastern RHA is acknowledging the life and significant accomplishments of The Honourable Murray Sinclair who passed away Monday, November 4, 2024. Canadian flags at health facilities in Interlake-Eastern RHA will be at half mast until sundown on the day of his funeral.

He was raised on the former St. Peter’s Indian Reserve in the Selkirk area. A member of Peguis First Nation, he graduated from Selkirk Collegiate Institute as class valedictorian and Athlete of the Year. He also worked at the Selkirk Friendship Centre as an administrator and youth worker.

He went on to become a lawyer and then associate chief judge of the Manitoba Provincial Court, making him Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge and Canada’s second.  In this role, he was co-commissioner of Manitoba’s Aboriginal Justice Inquiry that studied relationships between Indigenous people in Manitoba and the justice system. This report had a significant impact on law and legal policy in Canada, requiring courts to consider the backgrounds of Indigenous offenders and alternatives to prison when sentencing.

In November 2000, Sinclair completed the Report of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest, which led to significant changes in pediatric cardiac surgery in Manitoba and the study of medical and systemic errors in Canada.

In January 2001, he was the province’s first Indigenous person to be appointed as a judge to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba. While in this position, he was appointed to chair Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As head of the TRC, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada, culminating in the issuance of the TRC’s report in 2015 and the 94 Calls to Action.

He was nominated by leaders of Manitoba’s Indigenous community for an appointment to Canada’s senate and was appointed in April 2016.

While in the Senate, he served on the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and Rights of Parliament and as Chair of the Senate Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senators Committee.

Awards and honours

• National Aboriginal Achievement Award (1994)
• Indspire Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)
• The Manitoba Bar Association
• Equality Award (2001)
• Distinguished Service Award (2016)
• Canadian Bar Association President’s Award from the (2018)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research CouncilImpact Award (2019)
• Confederation Centre of the Arts Symons Medal (2019)
• Humane Canada Leadership and Innovation Award (2020)
• Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship (2020)
• Appointed a member of the Order of Manitoba (2024)
• Honorary Doctorates from seventeen Canadian universities

This summary was prepared with information from Wikipedia and CBC Manitoba

Statement From Premier Wab Kinew on the Passing of Former Senator Murray Sinclair