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TORONTO —
As Sen. Murray Sinclair prepares to retire from the Senate this week, his future plans include mentoring young Indigenous lawyers and writing his memoirs.
Sinclair, 70, will retire from the upper house on Jan. 31 after serving nearly five years. He will then turn his focus to educating Indigenous lawyers in Winnipeg.
“It was education that got us into this and it is education that will get us out of this, and I really believe that. I believe education is the key to reconciliation,” Sinclair told CTV News.
Sinclair, a member of the Ojibwe First Nation, was given the name Mizanay Gheezhik, which translates to “The One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky,” and was raised on a reserve north of Winnipeg by his aunt Josephine, a teacher who taught him the importance of education.
“She said ‘what you would like for your birthday?’ and I said a bicycle. When I opened the box it was a set of encyclopedias that she had given me for my 12th birthday,” said Sinclair.
He dedicated his entire life and career to shining a light on injustice and discrimination against Indigenous people. His legacy includes leading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and being one of the few Indigenous senators to ever hold such a position.
His career in the justice system spans four decades, during which time he was Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge and the co-commissioner of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry. On April 2, 2016, Sinclair was appointed to the Canadian Senate, months after the TRC’s final report documenting the history and abuses of Canada’s residential school system was published, along with its 94 “calls to action.”
He has also received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, along with the Manitoba Bar Association’s Equality Award and its Distinguished Service Award.
As a senator, Sinclair was entitled to remain in the position until 2026, when he would have reached the mandatory retirement age of 76.
“I really think I’ve done what I was asked to do,” he said. “I think I’ve contributed a great deal and there is nothing left for me to accomplish.”
He intends to spend retirement with his family.
“My tenure as senator has been a remarkable opportunity to serve the people of Manitoba, which I have strived to do with pride and humility for the past five years,” he said.
Although Sinclair will shift from a public to family life, he says his journey towards justice and reconciliation will be something for which strives for the rest of his life.
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