The Current23:15What we can learn from the late Murray Sinclair
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is honouring Murray Sinclair, the Anishinaabe judge, senator and chair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for both his pioneering role in advancing reconciliation in Canada and for the person he was — one guided by unconditional love.
Kinew attended the same preschool as Sinclair’s children, forming an early connection. Over the years, their relationship grew from family friends to extended kin, as they shared time together at community events and ceremonies, says Kinew.
In 2023, Sinclair spoke at the ceremony where Kinew was sworn in as Canada’s first First Nations premier. Sinclair called it “Manitoba’s true act of reconciliation.”
“We’re now entering into a new phase, and that phase ultimately is going to lead to a relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in which we are able to show true respect to all of those who are here, and all of those who come here,” said Sinclair.
Sinclair died at a Winnipeg hospital early Monday morning “peacefully and surrounded by love,” his family said in a statement. He was 73.
During Monday’s question period at the legislature, Kinew became emotional as he spoke, saying that Sinclair had “been there my entire life.”
Kinew spoke to The Current‘s host Matt Galloway about the tremendous impact that Sinclair had on him, and the country. Here is part of their conversation.
I’m sorry for your loss. You were very emotional yesterday at the legislature and speaking about Murray Sinclair. What was going through your mind as you were talking about him?
We have just lost one of the best among us as Canadians, as Manitobans, as Anishinaabe.
One of the things when we think about Murray Sinclair is that this man was the living embodiment of reconciliation in our country.
He led the process that has asked Canadians to confront this dark past of residential schools, but managed to wrestle that trauma into a voice of unity, and a path towards brightness in the future of this country.
I think that’s, in large part, not just the work of the survivors, but also the personality of Murray Sinclair that was able to do that.
We’re in this momentous time where if we have lost, the personification of reconciliation, I think each of us as Canadians are being asked to consider, at this moment, how are we going to continue that project of building more respectful relationships and helping Canada — this country that we love so much — to become that beacon of light on the hill that we want it to be globally.
At the same time, this is a friend, this is a mentor, this is somebody that I’ve known my entire life. And I just think about his kids, and his grandkids, and the role of dad and husband and grandpa was so important to him that I just feel so much compassion and sympathy for their loss.
It’s both a political and a personal loss.
How do you understand what drove him to take the steps to be a leader in those various fields … when it came to the inquiry, when it came to the TRC [Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada], when it came to being a judge, to being a senator?
I think there was a knowledge of self in Murray Sinclair. There was a quiet confidence that he knew he could do it. And having known the man, I think he also felt the responsibility.
He knew he could do it, and therefore he felt a burden, a weight, a responsibility to the community and country, that because he had the ability to lead in these conversations, then he should step up and do it.
I know … that the mantle of leading the TRC is something that did not come lightly to him.
But when we reflect on the nature of the change between the years that [the] TRC was in active operation and where we are now, where school kids across the country are wearing orange shirts, where NHL teams are doing land acknowledgements before the faceoff, where so many people from so many different walks of life from coast to coast to coast are talking about reconciliation, we can really say that Canada has been made immeasurably better by the contributions of this person.
If we get beyond just that personal motivation that he had — to me, it was really love. He presided over our swearing-in ceremony as a government last year. And one of the really remarkable things that he told us on the way into office is he said, “You have to learn to love the people even when they don’t love you.”
That was a lesson to everybody listening on a personal level, which is unconditional love. Live your life in such a way that each day, you try to do your best in a kind and gentle and magnanimous fashion.
Even if those around you are not reciprocating that feeling of gentleness and and compassion, you still have a responsibility, and you still have to carry your life forward in such a way that you are practising love.
WATCH | Murray Sinclair speaks at Premier Wab Kinew’s swearing-in ceremony:
Former senator Murray Sinclair talks about his hopes for reconciliation in the province after Wab Kinew was sworn in as Manitoba’s first First Nations premier.
If we look back over the arc of this man’s life and his career, not only did he espouse those words, I believe that he also embodied them in the actions that he took.
He was also, as you have pointed out, a family man, that he was a father and a grandfather … he tells a very funny story [in his memoir] of how his granddaughter, once for Halloween, dressed up as Princess Fiona and demanded that he get a Shrek costume and go out for Halloween … dressed up as Shrek. How will you remember Murray Sinclair as a person?
That sense of humour really comes to the fore. I can tell you that I visited him a few times in hospital these past few weeks. And on one of the occasions, he was taking a sip of something … and a bit of it dribbled onto his chin. So I wiped it off. I just leaned in for a quick second. And then, he got this contemplative look in his eye and he sort of looked off into the distance.
I thought he was going to hit me with something really profound, some great wisdom.
And he said, “You know what I’m having a really tough time accepting is that the premier just wiped my chin.”
LISTEN | Murray Sinclair reads an excerpt from his memoir:
The Current8:52Reflections on reconciliation from Murray Sinclair’s memoir
Former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair reads an excerpt from his book Who We Are: Four Questions For a Life and a Nation. The memoir draws from his personal experiences to reflect on truth and reconciliation in Canada.
He always had that sense of humour. He always had that mischievous grin on his face when he knew he was about to say something funny, to make the whole room laugh.
Apart from the great works, and apart from the wonderful contributions to the public discourse, I’ll always remember the laugh that we shared together because of his great sense of humour.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.