Residential school survivors says Murray Sinclair made them feel heard. Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, died Monday in a Winnipeg hospital at the age of 73.

Murray Sinclair was chosen to head Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009. A statement from the family of Murray Sinclair announced that the former senator, judge and lawyer passed away on Monday morning, November 4 “peacefully and surrounded by love,” the family said in a statement. He was 73-years-old.

Sinclair travelled the country for six years hearing the stories of survivors of residential schools for the commission, which produced 94 calls to action.