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Murray Sinclair, the Anishinaabe senator and lawyer who served as chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), has died at 73.

A member of Peguis First Nation, Sinclair grew up in Selkirk, Man., and went on to become a successful lawyer and the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba in 1988, , eventually being named the commissioner of the TRC in 2009.

Under his leadership, the TRC visited hundreds of communities and spoke to thousands of Indigenous Peoples over a six-year period, before concluding that Canada had committed “cultural genocide” against Indigenous Peoples, and that its residential schools were a key element of its policy to destroy Indigenous cultures, .

In recognition of his lifelong advocacy for Indigenous People, Sinclair was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Toronto in 2017. He accepted the honour less than a year after the release of , the final report of the Steering Committee for the University of Toronto Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The report contained 34 calls to action for the university to pursue to advance the cause of reconciliation.

In his on Nov. 6, 2017, Sinclair urged graduating students to keep an open mind and a strong social conscience as they navigated their careers.

“Not everything you have been told is right, and not everything that you have learned is all you have to know. You now have to begin to live life,” Sinclair said. “You now have to begin to put in practice some of those things that you know inherently is the right thing to do, using the information that you have gathered. That is your challenge.”

Sinclair's family said a sacred fire has been lit outside the Manitoba Legislative Building to mark his passing, .

Read the U of T News story about Murray Sinclair’s honorary degree