Remembering Murray Sinclair, and his impact on philanthropic foundations in Canada

Bruce Lawson

PFC News

3 mins read

Nov 6, 2024

Murray Sinclair was a giant. He was thoughtful, forceful, charismatic, brilliantly smart, engaging, funny and warm. I am sad on so many levels that he has now passed away – but grateful for his life and legacy. 

I met him on many occasions – first during the years when he was Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and later while he was a Senator. One week, during the TRC, I saw him give speeches at three different events: he spoke naturally and compellingly for at least 20 minutes at each event, often longer, had no notes, and spoke about very different topics. He was, in a word, spellbinding. And when he received the Egerton Ryerson Award at one of those events, he was both gracious and funny in noting the irony of being the recipient of that prize.

Another memory that stands out for me is his speech at the 2014 PFC Conference in Halifax. At the time, I was chair of the PFC board, and President & CEO of The Counselling Foundation of Canada. Justice Sinclair was in the midst of the TRC, and it was less than a year before they were to release the 94 Calls to Action and final report. Reconciliation, in the context of Indigenous communities and Canada, was still a relatively nascent concept for most in our sector at the time. 

During his speech, he challenged the philanthropic community to take meaningful action towards Reconciliation. It was that challenge which motivated a group of foundation leaders to write the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action, which was presented at the closing event of the TRC in 2015.

Andrea Nemtin, then CEO of Inspirit Foundation, was the instigator of the Declaration. When she called to ask for my help, I immediately agreed and between us, we enlisted others to work as a committee to draft the Declaration. We were fortunate to be guided and supported by Victoria Grant and Wanda Brascoupe during the process.

Most certainly, our sector’s work on Reconciliation remains ongoing. I am hopeful that as we reflect on the contributions of Senator Sinclair over the coming days, weeks and months, and as we contemplate almost 10 years since the TRC’s final reports and Calls to Action, and the tenth anniversary of the Declaration of Action, we reflect on the progress we have made and recommit to the work that still needs to be done – regardless of whether our organizations have signed the Declaration or not.

Let us honour Senator Sinclair’s life by remembering the purpose of the Declaration – it was designed to be action-oriented: to Learn & Remember, to Understand & Acknowledge, and to Participate & Act. It was to meet foundations where they were in their Reconciliation journey and to move them along the spectrum towards respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities.