Murray Sinclair

Calvin Murray Sinclair (Ojibwe name Mazina Giizhik ; January 24, 1951 – November 4, 2024) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. On April 2, 2016, Sinclair was appointed to the Senate of Canada, serving until his resignation on January 31, 2021. Prior to his appointment to the senate, he was chair of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015.

On July 1, 2021, Sinclair became the 15th Chancellor Queen's University, succeeding Jim Leech. He declined to seek reappointment, with his term expiring on June 30, 2024. Instead, he accepted a new role as the Chancellor Emeritus and Special Advisor to the Principal on Reconciliation of Queen's University.

Early life Calvin Murray Sinclair was born on January 24, 1951, and raised on the former St. Peter's Indian Reserve (existed along the shores of the Red River north to the mouth of Netley Creek from 1817-1908 and forced to move to Peguis First Nation) in the Selkirk area north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. His parents were Henry and Florence (née Mason) Sinclair. His siblings were Richard, Henry Jr. (Buddy) and Dianne. An older sister had died in infancy. Their mother, Florence, died in April 1952 following a stroke, and they were raised by their grandparents Henry James Sinclair and Catherine Simard in St. Peter's.

Sinclair also spent his teenage years as an air cadet with #6 Jim Whitecross Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.

Legal career Sinclair was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980. Over the course of his legal practice, Sinclair practised primarily in the fields of Civil and Criminal Litigation, Human Rights law, and Indigenous Law.

Sinclair was appointed associate chief judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in March 1988, becoming the first Indigenous judge in the province.

He also acted as a mediator, made numerous public appearances on matters relating to Indigenous issues and the Senate of Canada, and was asked to investigate the role of the Police Services Board of Thunder Bay, Ontario, in the light of allegations of systemic racism in policing in that community. That report was completed in October 2018.

Sinclair retired from the Senate in 2021.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Sinclair was appointed the chair of Canada's Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission in June 2009. The commission's mandate stemmed from the terms of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement as a means by which residential school survivors and former staff could inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian residential schools and document the accounts of survivors, former staff, families, communities and anyone personally affected by the Indian residential schools experience.

The report also noted that the government refused to include in the settlement agreement schools that Indigenous children were sent to by direction of the government but that were managed by the church or other organizations, as well as schools that had been established in Newfoundland and Labrador before it entered into Confederation in 1949. The report called upon Canada to address that issue quickly and collaboratively. and called upon all parts of Canadian society to commit to reconciliation and build a more respectful relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Sinclair wrote: “…econciliation is not an Indigenous problem. It is a Canadian one. It is one in which all Canadians are implicated.”

In his final speech at the release of the summary of the commission’s report on June 2, 2015, Sinclair acknowledged that reconciliation was going to be difficult. Perhaps, more difficult than getting at the truth behind residential schools, but it had to be done. He addressed all of Canada when he stated, “We have described for you a mountain. We have shown you the way to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.”

Personal life Sinclair was a Fourth Degree Midewiwin member of the Three Fires Society, a traditional Ojibwe medicine society of great significance to the Ojibwe people.

Sinclair's traditional Ojibwe name was Mizanay Gheezhik, meaning "the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky". He was named by Traditional Ojibwe Teacher and Elder Onaubinisay (Jim Dumont).

Sinclair had two children (including son Niigaan Sinclair) from his first marriage to Jeanette Warren. He was later married to Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair (1955–2024) and they had a daughter. As well, the Sinclair family adopted two daughters into the family.

Sinclair served on numerous community boards including The Jemima Centre for the Handicapped, Scouts Canada, The John Howard Society, The Royal Canadian Air Cadets, The Canadian Club, The Canadian Native Law Students Association, The Canadian Indian Lawyers Association (now the Indigenous Bar Association), The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, AbinochiZhawaynDakooziwin Ojibway Immersion Nursery School Board, the Selkirk Friendship Centre, the Manitoba Provincial Judges Association, the Manitoba Bar Association, the National Judicial Institute and the board of regents of the University of Winnipeg. Sinclair died at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, on November 4, 2024, at the age of 73. He was interred at Glen Eden Cemetery in Winnipeg.

Honours In 2016, Murray Sinclair was honoured with a 'Peace Patron Award' by The Mosaic Institute, an NGO based in Toronto working to promote pluralism reducing conflict in Canada and abroad. Sinclair was awarded the A. J. Christie Prize in Civil Litigation in his second year of law, and articled with a law firm in his hometown. He was awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, in the field of Justice in 1994, and for Lifetime Achievement in 2017. He received 20 honorary degrees for his work in the field of Aboriginal justice. Other awards and honours include the Mahatma Gandhi Prize for Peace from the Gandhi Foundation, Canada's World Peace Award (2016) from the World Federalist Movement-Canada, the Mandela Award, the Tarnopolski Award for Human Rights from the International Federation of Jurists (2017) and the Meritorious Service Cross for his service on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Order of Canada in 2022 In 2024, Sinclair was appointed a member of the Order of Manitoba and designated King's Counsel.