Justice Murray Sinclair, Raymonde Gagn sworn into Senate

Justice Murray Sinclair and Raymonde Gagnwere sworn intoSenate Tuesday in Ottawa.

The Liberal government namedGagn, a former president ofUniversitdeSaint-Bonifacein Winnipeg, and Sinclair, the jurist who led theTruth and Reconciliation Commission, to the Senate in mid-March.

Five other senators were also sworn in:

• Peter Harder, a former bureaucrat who led Justin Trudeau's transition team.
• FrancesLankin, a former Ontario NDP cabinet ministerand a national security expert.
• RatnaOmidvar, executive director atRyersonUniversity's Global Diversity Exchange.
• AndrPratte, editorialwriter at La Presse.
• ChantalPetitclerc,a14-timeParalympicgold medallist and world-record-holding wheelchair racer.

Conservative SenatorClaudeCarignanwelcomed the new senators.

"SenatorSinclair, former judge, you are now part of the jury of the Senate.Part of our mandate here is to ensure that we take a secondlook at legislation and ascertain whether it needs amendments to provide the best words for Canadians" he said.

• Justice Murray Sinclair accepts 'sacred' appointment to Senate

Sinclairtold reporters after the ceremony he welcomes the appointment, adding he thinks it's an important step forward for the indigenous community.

"The institutions of governance in this country need to begin to ask themselves whether they have been fulfilling their responsibilities to the indigenous part of Canada," he said.

"My ambition here is to educate the members of Parliament and members of theSenate, just as my ambition when I was doing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to educate all ofCanada about the history of indigenous people, and about [what] direction [the]solutions need to be."

Sinclair also said while he's happy to be a senator, it isn't going to stop him from remaining grounded and true to his roots.

"I'm not wowed by this place. I think this palace is a place I need to be at, but I am more wowed when I sit with mothers in a circle and listen to them talk about what it is that they need to help their children," he said.

The appointees were selected by a new non-partisan advisory board.Sinclairsaid in March he believes not being formally tied to a particular party is an important step in the right direction for the Senate.