Justice Murray Sinclair

The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair was appointed Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which looks at those affected by the Indian Residential School system, in June 2009.

Justice Sinclair was Manitoba's first Aboriginal Judge and the second Aboriginal judge in Canada. He was appointed Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in March of 1988 and to the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba in January 2001. In his legal practice, Justice Murray represented a cross-section of clients and was known for his representation of Aboriginal peoples and his expertise in Aboriginal legal issues.

Shortly after his appointment as Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in 1988, Justice Sinclair was appointed Co-Commissioner, along with Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice A. C. Hamilton, of Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. In November 2000, Justice Sinclair completed the Report of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest, a study into the deaths of twelve children in the pediatric cardiac surgery program of Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre in 1994.

He has been awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement award in addition to many other community service awards, as well as Honorary Degrees from the University of Ottawa, St. John’s College at the University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, the University of Winnipeg, Ryerson University, Red River College, Keewatin Community College, and the University of Manitoba for his work in the field of Aboriginal justice. He is an adjunct professor of Law and an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Manitoba.

Justice Sinclair and his wife Katherine have been together for 33 years. He is a father of four and a Mooshim (Grandfather) to Sarah.

In July 2013, the University of Manitoba was entrusted to house the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s National Research Centre. The Centre will officially open in 2015.