Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners selected lead by Murray Sinclair
Native judge to be new chair of residential schools commission
June 03, 2009
Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair, a respected aboriginal judge from Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench, will be appointed the new chair of Canada's residential schools truth and reconciliation commission, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Judge Sinclair will be joined by two new commissioners, who sources said are Wilton Littlechild, the Alberta regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations and Marie Wilson, a former regional director of CBC North who is married to Stephen Kakfwi, a Dene former premier of the Northwest Territories.
The announcements are expected within the next few days.
Judge Sinclair, the first native judge appointed to the Manitoba bench, has a great deal of experience handling delicate public proceedings and substantial credibility among native people.
Almost immediately after being appointed to the bench in 1988, he was given the difficult task of co-chairing an explosive inquiry into the treatment of aboriginal people in the justice system, an inquiry sparked by the shooting death of native leader J.J. Harper by a Winnipeg police officer. He also led an inquiry into the deaths of 12 children at a Winnipeg hospital in 1994.
He was considered a leading candidate to be the first native judge elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006 but was passed over in favour of Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein.
He inherits a fledgling truth and reconciliation process thrown into disarray by the resignation of the former chair, Mr. Justice Harry LaForme last October.
"Murray Sinclair is always a leading candidate for an appointment of this magnitude," said Marlene Brant Castellano, a leading native educator who co-chaired the original selection process but was not involved in this phase. "It's going to be a pretty strenuous five years for the chair."
His appointment comes more than seven months after Judge LaForme quit over a power struggle with his two fellow commissioners, Jane Brewin Morley and Claudette Dumont-Smith.
Judge LaForme said at the time his authority was being undermined by the two commissioners, who he claimed were less interested in pursuing reconciliation. He also accused the Assembly of First Nations of trying to interfere in the commission's affairs, which the AFN denied.
Ms. Morley and Ms. Dumont-Smith resigned three months later, giving the commission a clean slate to select a new panel. Their resignations took effect June 1.
One of the central disputes that led to the breakdown of the commission was whether it should be governed by the chair, by consensus or by majority rule. Former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, who is acting as a facilitator, said a unanimous agreement had been reached by the parties involved to settle that question. The formal job description said the chair "will at all times use best efforts to reach decisions on a consensus basis," while the commissioners would respect the overall leadership of the chair.
The commission has a five-year mandate to gather the stories of some of the 80,000 survivors of the church-run residential schools across Canada. It will host seven national events, produce a report on its findings and recommendations within two years, and within five years establish a national research centre.