Kimberly Murray commenced her new role as Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Legal Studies on January 1, 2025, after completing a federal appointment as the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites Associated with Indian Residential Schools.
Murray has dedicated much of her legal career to promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and advocating for Indigenous communities. She was the Province of Ontario’s first ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Indigenous Justice (2015-2022), where she worked to support communities revitalize their Indigenous laws and expanded legal services and programs for Indigenous people.
In 2018-2019, Ms. Murray chaired the Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities, which produced the report Toward Peace Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities.
From 2010-2015, Murray was Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission working to ensure that Survivors were heard and remembered, and she promoted reconciliation across the country.
During her previous 15-year career with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, she was staff lawyer and then Executive Director, conducting numerous law reform and public legal education activities, and appeared before all levels of court.
She has also served on numerous boards, public committees, and councils; provided advocacy in high-profile public inquiries; published numerous works, position and conference papers; taught law and undergraduate students; and has been recognized with numerous awards.
Murray, is a member of Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Nation, holds an LLM and LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, a BA from Carleton, and honorary LLDs from Guelph/Humber, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and the Law Society of Ontario.
Murray’s research interests include lawyering for reconciliation, decolonizing the practice of law, the revitalization of Indigenous laws, and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Recent Publications:
- Council of Canadian Academies. Toward Peace, Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities. Ottawa: The Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities, Council of Canadian Academies, 2019. https://www.cca-reports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/FullReport-Toward-Peace-Harmony-and-WellBeing.pdf.
- Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor. Upholding Sacred Obligations: Reparations for Missing and Disappeared Indigenous Children and Unmarked Burials in Canada. Gatineau: Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor, 2024. https://osi-bis.ca/report/final-report-october-2024-2/.