Applause erupted over and over at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg Sunday at the memorial service for Murray Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools.
Sinclair’s son Niigaan said his dad “was a first” in every room he walked into.
“It was impossible to go through a mall without 17 people, two of them he’d sentenced to jail at one point, coming up to him and saying how much they appreciated him,” Niigaan Sinclair said.
Murray Sinclair’s death Monday at the age of 73 was met with tributes from across the country, and a sacred fire was lit outside the Manitoba legislature. Indigenous leaders and politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attended Sunday’s service honouring Sinclair’s legacy at the home arena of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.
“He became, to me, a wise teacher, a trusted confidant, an insightful elder. And above …