The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) announced the Honorable Justice Murray Sinclair will be the recipient of the 2024 RAIC Gold Medal. The award is the highest honour given for a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture, recognizing excellence in design, research, and education, as well as expertise, public presence, sustainability, social justice, and commitment to future architects.
Justice Murray Sinclair was the chair of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a role that exposed historical injustices and systemic structures treating Indigenous people as less than human. His unwavering dedication and leadership in promoting truth and reconciliation, dismantling colonial relationships, and advocating for the rights of Canada’s founding peoples are unmatched. This work has had a fundamental impact on the Canadian architectural landscape, both presently and in the future.
Justice Sinclair was called to the bench in 1988, becoming Manitoba’s first, and Canada’s second, Indigenous judge. In the same year, he served alongside the Associate Chief Justice as Co-commissioner of the Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal Peoples of Manitoba. In 1995, Justice Sinclair was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench, where he continued to lead high-profile court proceedings and the institution of restorative justice processes throughout the province.
Alongside his involvement in law, Justice Sinclair taught courses at the University of Manitoba and served as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies. He has been invited to share legal expertise across Canada and at prestigious academic institutions such as Cambridge University, Yale University, and Harvard Law School, as well as numerous professional organizations, including the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the National Judicial Institute.
He has received 14 honorary degrees, as well as been presented with honorary diplomas from multiple Colleges and dozens of Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations.
