Close X
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
ADVT 
National

Key architect of reconciliation: Judge, senator, TRC chair Murray Sinclair dies at 73

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Nov, 2024 04:32 PM
  • Key architect of reconciliation: Judge, senator, TRC chair Murray Sinclair dies at 73

A teepee and a sacred fire were set up in front of the Manitoba legislature on Monday to honour Murray Sinclair, as tributes poured in from across the country for the former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools.

People lined up under grey skies, facing a cold wind, to enter the teepee and pay respects. Flags nearby flew at half-mast.

Sinclair died in a Winnipeg hospital Monday morning. He was 73.

"I think we can truly say he was one of the key architects of the era of reconciliation," Premier Wab Kinew said.

"As we begin to mourn his loss ... I think we have to contend with the ultimate question of, now that we've been left to ourselves as Canadians, how are we going to take it from here?"

Kinew joined Sinclair's family and community members in setting up the large teepee, which he said is an important part of Anishinaabe culture. Kinew had known Sinclair since the premier was a child.

"The sacred fire is a gathering place for mourners. And significantly, what it represents in our culture is the offerings that Murray will need in order to be successful on his four-day journey along the everlasting road to the afterlife."

Sinclair's family issued a statement and they invited people to visit the fire.

"Mazina Giizhik (the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky) committed his life in service to the people: creating change, revealing truth, and leading with fairness throughout his career," said the statement, noting Sinclair's traditional Anishinaabe name.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute in Ottawa to Sinclair's work on reconciliation.

Born in 1951, Sinclair was raised on the former St. Peter's Indian Reserve north of Winnipeg. He was a member of Peguis First Nation.

He was raised by his grandparents and graduated from a high school in Selkirk, Man., 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 it, Sinclair described discrimination he experienced being Anishinaabe in a non-Indigenous school.

“While I and others succeeded in that system, it was not without cost to our own humanity and our sense of self-respect. These are the legacies all of us find ourselves in today.”

In 1979, Sinclair graduated law school at the University of Manitoba and later became the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba — the second in Canada.

He served as co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba to examine whether the justice system was failing Indigenous people after the murder of Helen Betty Osborne and the police shooting death of J.J. Harper.

In leading 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 widely influential final report in 2015, which described what took place at the institutions as cultural genocide and included 94 calls to action.

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

Two years later, he and the other commissioners received the Meritorious Service Cross for their work. 

It was one of many recognitions Sinclair received over his career. 

He was given a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, now the Indspire Awards, in the field of justice in 1994. In 2017, he received a lifetime achievement award from the organization.

In 2016, Sinclair was appointed to the Senate. He retired from that role in 2021. 

The following year, he received the Order of Canada for dedicating his life to championing Indigenous Peoples' rights and freedoms. 

In accepting that honour, Sinclair said he wanted to show the country that working on Indigenous issues requires a national effort.

"When I speak to young people, I always tell them that we all have a responsibility to do the best that we can and to be the best that we can be," he said.

Sinclair limited his public engagements in recent years due to declining health.

In his memoir, Sinclair described living with congestive heart failure. Nerve damage led to him relying on a wheelchair.

In his memoir, released in September, he continued to challenge Canadians to take action. 

“We know that making things better will not happen overnight. It will take generations. That’s how the damage was created and that’s how the damage will be fixed,” Sinclair wrote.

“But if we agree on the objective of reconciliation, and agree to work together, the work we do today will immeasurably strengthen the social fabric of Canada tomorrow.”

MORE National ARTICLES

Body found in Cowichan Bay

Body found in Cowichan Bay
Police on eastern Vancouver Island say they have found the body of a 26-year-old man in the waters of Cowichan Bay. R-C-M-P say the man was last seen Monday and reported missing on Wednesday.

Body found in Cowichan Bay

Man charged in child pornography

Man charged in child pornography
Police in New Westminster say a 45-year-old man has been charged with one count of possession of child pornography.  They say in a statement that the man was arrested last July and he's since been released from custody with several "strict" court-ordered conditions. 

Man charged in child pornography

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight
Coastal British Columbia will see strong winds overnight with gusts that could reach speeds of between 90 and 110 kilometres per hour.  Warnings from Environment Canada span the Greater Victoria area, the southern Gulf Islands, eastern Vancouver Island, southern parts of Metro Vancouver and Haida Gwaii.

Wind warning for B.C.'s south coast with gusts up to 90 km/h expected overnight

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback
The federal government is giving Canada Post the ability to store and transport prohibited firearms in new regulations that bring the retail gun buyback program one step closer to beginning. An order-in-council dated Oct. 16 allows for prohibited assault-style firearms to be removed from safes at firearms retailers, transported and ultimately destroyed. 

New regulations allow Canada Post to ship prohibited firearms returned in gun buyback

Joly faces calls for probe in death of woman Canada refused to repatriate from Syria

Joly faces calls for probe in death of woman Canada refused to repatriate from Syria
Advocates want Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to call an impartial investigation into the death of a Canadian woman the federal government refused to repatriate from a Syrian detention camp. In a letter to Joly, Sen. Kim Pate and human rights activist Alex Neve say the Quebec woman died unexpectedly just over a week ago in Turkey.

Joly faces calls for probe in death of woman Canada refused to repatriate from Syria

Canadian consensus on immigration under threat, but not gone: immigration minister

Canadian consensus on immigration under threat, but not gone: immigration minister
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared. On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to slash Canada's immigration targets by 20 per cent next year and admitted his government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Canadian consensus on immigration under threat, but not gone: immigration minister