Kinew weighs in on killer’s release from prison, reaches out to prime minister

WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and First Nations organizations are calling for a review of the justice system after learning a man who killed two Indigenous women is being released from prison. 

Shawn Lamb pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2012 deaths of Carolyn Sinclair and Lorna Blacksmith and was sentenced to 20 years the following year. 

By law, most federal inmates are automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence, which is known as statutory release. Offenders serving life or indeterminate sentences are not eligible. 

Kinew told reporters Thursday that he was drafting a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney after learning Lamb had been granted statutory release. 

He said he didn’t plan on asking to discuss Lamb’s case with Carney but would touch on concerns about pre-emptive release, parole and sentencing. 

“How does this help the general public’s sense of safety? How does this help victims’ family members heal and feel secure in the community? How does this help foster a feeling that our justice system actually delivers justice? I personally don’t see this news is helping that process,” said Kinew.

“There is a need to confront the bigger picture questions about the justice system, the way parole is administered and the broader systemic issues like (missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls).”

A grassroots organization that advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is calling on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code to allow for consecutive sentencing in cases of multiple homicides.

Giganawenimaanaanig, which translates to “we all take care of them,” said news of Lamb’s release highlights a “devastating gap in Canada’s justice system.”

“While Mr. Lamb has met the technical requirements for statutory release, his return to the community cannot be considered fair or just given the magnitude of harm he caused to Indigenous women, their families and society as a whole,” the group said in a statement.

It said current Criminal Code provisions don’t adequately reflect the scale of harm caused by offenders convicted of multiple murders. 

The group is also calling on Canada to consider violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people as an aggravating factor at sentencing, something the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls included in their 231 calls for justice. 

The Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which represents 32 First Nations in Manitoba, has joined in calling for stricter sentences for violence against First Nations women. 

“The safeguards within Canada’s colonial justice system still treat First Nations women and girls as disposable,” Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said in a release. 

“First Nations women and girls are not disposable, and the justice system must change to reflect that truth.”

Court heard Lamb killed both women at different times. He told police he hit 25-year-old Sinclair over the head with an axe handle then strangled her. He also strangled 18-year-old Blacksmith. He wrapped both bodies in plastic and dumped them in back alleys.

Lamb was initially arrested in the death of a third woman, Tanya Nepinak, but the Crown stayed the charge due to a lack of evidence. He has denied any involvement in her death. 

Nepinak was last seen in Winnipeg in September 2011 and police believe her body was dumped in a garbage bin and taken to the Brady Road landfill in the city.

Police searched a small portion of the landfill for Nepinak in 2012 but were unsuccessful in recovering her remains and called off the search after a week.

The provincial government has indicated it’s open to another search at the site for Nepinak’s remains, following years of pressure from her family. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.