The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony on Saturday, November 14, “in recognition of his stellar career in judiciary as well as his dedication, care and service to Aboriginal and First Nations peoples and to all Canadians in leading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
Justice Sinclair was appointed chair of the Commission in June 2009 to look into the history and legacy of Indian residential schools. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980 and became known primarily for his representation of Aboriginal people and his knowledge of Aboriginal legal issues. He was Manitoba’s first Aboriginal judge and only the second in Canada. He was appointed associate chief judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in March 1988 and to Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench in January 2001.
He was co-commissioner of Manitoba’s Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, which spent three years studying the province’s administration of justice and its impact on Aboriginals. In 2000, Justice Sinclair completed the report of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest into the deaths of 12 children at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre in 1994.
He has received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in addition to many other community service awards and nine honorary degrees.