WINNIPEG-

A public memorial service will be held in Winnipeg on Sunday in memory of former judge, senator and residential school chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Murray Sinclair.

The event, organized by the federal and Manitoba governments, will take place at the Canada Life Centre, home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.

Sinclair died Monday at a hospital in Winnipeg at the age of 73.

Hours after news of his death was made public, a tent and a sacred fire were lit outside the Manitoba legislature so people could pay their respects. The facility will remain open to the public until Sinclair’s funeral, the state said.

Sinclair’s family continues to invite people to visit the sacred fire and offer tobacco.

The family thanked people who shared words of love and support at the memorial this week.

“The importance of Mazina Giizhik (The One Who Speaks from Pictures in the Sky) and her reach cannot be overstated,” the family said in a statement Tuesday, noting Sinclair’s traditional Anishinaabe name. he said.

“He touched many lives and impacted thousands of people.”

They encourage people to celebrate his life and journey home.

A visitation for extended family, friends and the community is also planned for Wednesday morning.

Leaders from across Canada shared their memories of Sinclair.

Prime Minister Wab Kinew called Sinclair one of the most important architects of the era of reconciliation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sinclair was a teacher, a guide and a friend who helped the country confront difficult realities.

Sinclair was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba and the second in Canada.

He served as co-chair of the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry to examine whether the justice system failed Indigenous people following the murder of Helen Betty Osborne and the police shooting of First Nations leader JJ Harper.

Leading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he attended hundreds of hearings across Canada and heard testimony from thousands of residential school survivors.

Commission members published their highly influential final report in 2015, describing what was happening in institutions as cultural genocide and containing 94 calls to action.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.