Murray Sinclair

Who is Murray Sinclair?

The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair was appointed the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in June 2009. He had been appointed Associate Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in March 1988 and to the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba in January 2001. He is Manitoba's first Aboriginal Judge.

Justice Sinclair was born and raised in the Selkirk area north of Winnipeg, graduating from his high school as class valedictorian and athlete of the year in 1968. Justice Sinclair was an Air Cadet with 6 Jim Whitecross Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron for several years. After serving as Special Assistant to the Attorney General of Manitoba, Justice Sinclair attended the Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba and, in 1979, graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba.

He was awarded the A. J. Christie Prize in Civil Litigation in his second year of law and articled with a law firm in his home town. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1980. In the course of his legal practice, Justice Sinclair practiced primarily in the fields of Civil and Criminal Litigation Human Rights and Aboriginal Law. He represented a cross section of clients but by the time of his appointment, was known for his representation of Aboriginal people and his knowledge of Aboriginal legal issues.