Senators pay tribute to Murray Sinclair: 'He left an indelible imprint'

Murray Sinclair personified reconciliation. He lived it, walked it and talked it. But his former colleagues in the Senate say the trailblazing Anishinaabe judge brought his strength, wisdom and humour to bear on many other issues.

Reflecting on Sinclair's legacy on Tuesday, senators remembered him as a courageous leader and towering intellect who left his mark on Canada's upper house, raising the bar for all of them.

"He set a standard of behaviour that encouraged us all to to be part of the solution and not just critical of challenges," said Independent Sen. Kim Pate, who counted Sinclair as a friend.

Tributes poured in across the country Monday after Sinclair's family announced he had died at a Winnipeg hospital at age 73. While he may be gone, stories of his kindness will circulate for generations to come, his family said in a statement.

One place where that's true is the Senate, where Sinclair represented Manitoba from 2016 to 2021, after chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Sinclair led by example, went to dark places so others could benefit from the light, and through his advocacy and expertise broke the mould of what an Indigenous parliamentarian could be, former colleagues say.

"He elevated the role of an Indigenous senator," said Dan Christmas, a member of Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia who retired from the Senate in 2023.

"Sometimes Indigenous senators get pigeonholed into Indigenous issues. He didn't allow that because he was an expert in other fields."

Sinclair was among the first batch of non-partisan appointees made under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in spring 2016. Christmas was among the second. The first welcoming call the rookie Mi'kmaw senator got was from Sinclair, still basically a rookie parliamentarian himself.

But because Sinclair already had a storied career behind him as a judge, leader of judicial commissions and architect of reconciliation, when he addressed the chamber, people listened, Christmas said.

"He broke the ceiling, [showing] that Indigenous people can be experts in general life, not just Indigenous life."

Other senators praise Sinclair as one who never wavered from the courage of his convictions. He commanded respect, they say, but treated others with humility and decency.

Whether advocating for Indigenous rights, criminal justice reform, animal rights or the environment, Sinclair tried to elevate the often derided institution and make it welcoming for Indigenous people.

"He left an indelible imprint on this chamber, on the country and I would say on the world. I mean it," said Pate, who was appointed in fall 2016.

"You would be hard pressed to find anywhere around the globe where people don't know of his legacy, who he was and what he stood for."

Probed the darkness but focused on light

A member of Peguis First Nation in Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba, Sinclair in 1988 became the first Indigenous judge in the province and only the second in Canada. In that same year, he co-chaired the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, sparked by  the 1987 trial of two men for the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne, and the 1988 shooting death of J.J. Harper following an encounter with a Winnipeg police officer.

That's when Pate, an advocate for prisoner rights and criminal justice reform, first met Sinclair. She credits him for tackling the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls long before the crisis entered the national spotlight.

"He laid out so many horrific issues, so many horrific realities, in ways that made us all face up to them," she said.

WATCH | Remembering Murray Sinclair:

Murray Sinclair, Indigenous judge, senator and TRC chair, dead at 73

28 days ago

Duration 3:01

Murray Sinclair, who started as a lawyer and became the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba and later a Senator and commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has died at 73.

Sinclair led an inquest after 12 infants died during cardiac surgery in one year at a Winnipeg hospital, a haunting experience that stuck with him. But despite going to these dark places, Sinclair is often remembered for his joyful, quirky humour.

"He dressed up as Shrek for Halloween with one of his grandchildren," recalled Independent Sen. Yvonne Boyer, who is Red River Métis and represents Ontario.

"And if you can imagine Murray as Shrek? With the ears? I mean, it was funny. It was very funny. He had stories. His storytelling and his lessons often came through humour."

She got a text from Sinclair in 2018 when she was appointed. Now she goes out of her way to welcome other new appointees. Others saw him as a mentor, too.

"He blazed the trail," said Progressive Sen. Brian Francis, a former chief of Abegweit First Nation in P.E.I.

"And I followed as best I could."

Watching Sinclair, who never hesitated to call out the same government that appointed him, taught Francis that Indigenous people didn't have to keep quiet anymore in places like Parliament.

"He had the courage to speak up about the tough issues as an Indigenous senator, and he taught me in that sense to speak up as well," said Francis.

That made things easier for those who came after. Progressive Sen. Michèle Audette, who is Innu from Quebec, was appointed in 2021. She knew immediately who to call — Sinclair had retired just a few months before.

"He said, 'Michèle, if I would have known, I would have stayed longer so I can be with you in that room,'" she said with a chuckle.

Audette, a former commissioner with the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, is another contemporary leader who credits Sinclair with lighting the way forward. The country can best honour his legacy by continuing down that path, she said.

"He opened a portage," she said.

"He opened a way, or a place, that nobody talked about before, coming from an Indigenous voice. We have to remember that."