Cuthand: Sinclair remembered for Indigenous reconciliation

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This week we lost a great man whose contribution will be felt for years to come. At a time when the elected leaders occupy centre stage, it’s a welcome change to recognize someone who never held elected office, but made a lasting contribution to all Canadians.

Murray Sinclair was Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge, and later first Indigenous appointee to the Court of Queen’s Bench. As a judge, Sinclair was known for his empathy and search for alternate sentencing that would not continue an individual’s downward spiral into a life of gangs, drugs and revolving door jail time.

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He sentenced individuals to rehabilitation centres and Indigenous cultural training. Today, there are many individuals who look back on Sinclair’s sentencing as the best thing that ever happened to them.

Later he would head the Manitoba Aboriginal justice inquiry that was precipitated by the death of Helen Betty Osborne and the police shooting of J.J. Harper.

His greatest professional achievement was as the chair of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Both the process and the final report sent shock waves across Canada, and they are still reverberating today.

The commission travelled the country and held numerous hearings at the local level. He heard from over 7,000 former students who told their stories of loneliness, suffering and lifelong trauma.

His empathy that he practised as a lawyer and later as a judge served him well as he listened to stories that were deeply personal and, for many, had never been told out loud. Many boarding school survivors were mentally isolated and firmly believed that their story was unique.

Hearing the stories of others was an eye-opening experience for many.

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A woman in British Columbia told the commission of how the nuns at the school had taken an orange shirt from her because it was too colourful. The orange shirt became a symbol of the repression.

Sinclair did a masterful job. He took a delicate and, for non-Indigenous people, an obscure topic and made it real. He and the other commissioners allowed the people to tell their stories without interruption. In the process they revealed Canada’s shame.

The process also revealed many damaged individuals who passed on intergenerational trauma, which is still with us. While many of the old boarding schools have been reduced to rubble, the human tragedy lives on.

Sinclair and the commissioners focused on reconciliation. They could have been negative and counter-productive; instead he made it transformative. The final report was contained in six volumes and instead of dry recommendations they issued 94 calls to action directed to the government, churches and other institutions.

They documented 3,200 students who died from neglect or disease, although Sinclair felt the number to be much higher, around 6,000 children. Subsequent searches for unmarked graves support this.

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“Every Child Matters” became a rallying cry and marches and ceremonies are held annually to keep the memory of this terrible time alive in the nation’s consciousness.

Originally, Sinclair pursued law because he felt it would be an entry to politics. Instead, he was introduced to a career as a lawyer and later a judge, which extended to his role as a commissioner where he made a lasting legacy.

He never held elected office, but late in his life he was appointed to the senate, the next best thing. His appointment to the senate was supported by Senator Charlie Watt and former FSIN Chief Sol Sanderson.

As a senator he served on the Senate Standing Committees on Aboriginal issues and constitutional issues.

Sadly, we lost Murray Sinclair this week but the work he began lives on. Canada needs to continue the process of reconciliation with Indigenous people. We have come a long way, but we still have a ways to go and the journey continues.

Today, our chiefs and council members have been compromised by the federal government to be administrators and fill neocolonial roles. The vision and commitment to our treaties and Aboriginal rights have been submerged in all the paperwork.

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We need more leaders who share Sinclair’s empathy and vision. His life’s work should serve as an example of a life dedicated to his people and educating the public.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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