Department of Justice

MANITOBA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT

OTTAWA, January 31, 2001 -- The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:

The Honourable Murray Sinclair, Associate Chief Judge of the Manitoba Provincial Court, is appointed a judge of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench. He replaces the Honourable F.M. Steel, who was appointed to the Manitoba Court of Appeal.

Mr. Justice Sinclair received his LL.B. from the University of Manitoba in 1979, and was called to the Bar of Manitoba the following year. He was appointed Associate Chief Judge of the Manitoba Provincial Court in 1988, and soon after, Co-commissioner to the Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal Peoples of Manitoba. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba, and has received honourary doctorates from the University of Ottawa in 1999 and St. John's College, University of Manitoba in 2000. Throughout his career, Mr. Justice Sinclair has lectured and published extensively on a range of topics, including youth justice and Aboriginal issues, and has served as a member of the Social Context Education Committee of the National Judicial Institute. In December 2000, Mr. Justice Sinclair released the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest Report, concerning an inquiry he conducted into the deaths of 12 infants in cardiac care.

This appointment is effective immediately.

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Ref.:

Farah Mohamed
Minister's Office
(613) 992-4621