Despite a false start, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is ready to begin anew with three new commissioners.
Justice Murray Sinclair will serve as the commission’s chairperson, replacing Justice Harry LaForme who resigned last October. Sinclair was appointed Associate Chief Judge of Manitoba’s provincial court in 1988, and co-commissioner of Manitoba’s Aboriginal Justice Inquiry.
Commissioners Marie Wilson and Chief Wilton Littlechild will replace Claudette Dumont-Smith and Jane Brewin Morley whose resignations were effective July 1.
Marie Wilson has worked cross-culturally in a number of roles including an educator, journalist, program director and regional executive.
Littlechild, who is from Maskawacis Cree Territory, is a former residential school student and was the first Treaty First Nations person to receive a law degree from the University of Alberta. He recently completed his term as the North American representative to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
The appointments were announced on June 10, the day before Canada’s National Day of Reconciliation. The TRC is mandated to inform Canadians about Indian Residential Schools and to guide reconciliation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples.
June 11 marked the first anniversary of the Canadian government’s apology for its involvement with the school system. It was commemorated at General Assembly with prayers and remembrances.
