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	New Commissioners for Native Reconciliation Judge Murray Sinclair, Marie Wilson, Wilton Littlechild CBC June 10, 2009 http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/10/f-truth-and-reconciliation-commissioners-2009.html More than a year after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for residential schools was established, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl has introduced the second panel of leaders for the group. Judge Murray Sinclair, a judge in Manitoba who became the province's first aboriginal associate chief justice in 1988, will chair a panel that is being revived after months of internal wrangling among its former members, who all resigned last year. The other members of the commission are Marie Wilson, a senior executive with the N.W.T. workers compensation commission, and Wilton Littlechild, Alberta regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations. While questions emerged among the first commissioners about how decisions would be made, Strahl is optimistic about Sinclair's leadership of the second group. "His description of how he wants to proceed is a collaborative one," Strahl told reporters in Ottawa on June 10. Here's a look at the new commissioners. Judge Murray Sinclair Judge Murray Sinclair brings "impeccable credentials" to his post as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Strahl said. Manitoba's first aboriginal judge and a citizen of the Ojibway nation, Sinclair was raised on St. Peter's reserve in the Selkirk area north of Winnipeg. After high school, he worked as special assistant to the attorney general of Manitoba. He studied at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, where he graduated from the school of law in 1979. As a lawyer, Sinclair practised mainly aboriginal law and civil and criminal litigation. According to a news release from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, he was known for his representation of aboriginal people and knowledge of aboriginal legal issues. Not long after his 1988 appointment as associate chief justice of Manitoba provincial court, he was chosen as co-commissioner of Manitoba's aboriginal justice inquiry, a probe launched after a Winnipeg police officer shot native leader J.J. Harper to death after he was mistaken for a car thief. Sinclair was also at the helm of a study into the deaths of 12 children at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. Marie Wilson Marie Wilson worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. for 25 years in radio and television, serving during that time as regional director for CBC North. She is currently vice-president of operations for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. For nearly 40 years, Wilson has "dealt effectively with aboriginal, church and political organizations at the operational, executive and political levels," the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs said in a news release. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario in London, Wilson has a bachelor's degree in French language and literature, and a master's degree in journalism. The northern newsmagazine Up Here recognized Wilson with the "Northerner of the Year" award. Wilton Littlechild The Alberta regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, Wilton Littlechild was the first treaty First Nation person to graduate in law from the University of Alberta. That accomplishment in 1976 followed his bachelor of physical education degree in 1967 and a master's in the same field in 1975. A member of Parliament for the riding of Wetaskiwin-Rimby from 1988 to 1993, Littlechild runs a law firm on the Ermineskin reserve. In a news release, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs described him as a "strong advocate" for the rights of indigenous peoples. Described by the department as an avid sportsman and athlete, Littlechild has won more than 50 provincial, regional, national and international championships and been inducted into seven sports walls of fame. He was also chair of the Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform, which examined Saskatchewan's justice system.
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