Murray Sinclair memorial service to take place Sunday

Murray Sinclair will be honoured with a national commemorative ceremony on Sunday.

He is the first Indigenous leader to be honoured with the ceremony which are held to honour “eminent Canadians, members of the Royal Family or citizens from another country who have made an impact on Canada.”, according to the Canadian Heritage website.

Government representatives, First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders as well as Sinclair’s family will attend with musical performances by Morgan Grace, William Prince, Fawn Wood and Aysanabee.

The public is also welcome to attend.

The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. at Canada Life Centre. CTV News Winnipeg is live-streaming the event.

Sinclair, a former senator, judge and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, died on Monday at the age of 73 in a Winnipeg hospital. He was the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba.

Multiple government representatives and Indigenous leaders are expected to attend.

During his career, he co-chaired the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, which examined if the justice system was failing Indigenous people.

Sinclair served as senator from 2016 to 2021.

He chaired the Truth and Reconciliation, which gathered stories from residential school survivors across Canada and included 94 calls to action.

A sacred fire was lit the grounds of the Manitoba legislature for people to pay tribute to Sinclair. The fire went down Thursday after Sinclair's funeral.

A commemorative webpage has been set up by the federal government to learn more about Mr. Sinclair's life and an online book of condolences is available to be signed.

-With files from The Canadian Press.