Walter Rudnicki (Eagle Shield) was born on September 25, 1925, in Rosser, Manitoba. He received his B.A. from the University of Manitoba in 1950 and an MA in Social Work and Community Organization from the University of British Columbia in 1952. The first years after his graduation, Rudnicki worked with the Department of Social Services in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. In 1955, he became the Chief of Arctic Division of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) where he was responsible for implementing social programs for Inuit people. In 1963, as the Chief of Social Programs, Welfare Division of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, he was responsible for developing policies to fight poverty. Rudnicki also worked within government as Secretary of the Social Policy Committee, in the Privy Council Office (PCO), and as a senior policy advisor for Cabinet Minister Robert Andras (1968-1970). In 1969 he left the PCO and became the Executive Director of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and advised the Minister on housing and urban development.
In 1973, Rudnicki was fired from his position at the CMHC by the director, Bill Teron, for not following "cabinet confidentiality" in showing a confidential report about housing to the Métis community, but was later vindicated and won the first wrongful dismissal suit in Canada in 1983. His dismissal is thought to have been connected to issues regarding Government Security Services and the existence of a "Black list". People on the list were public servants labeled "revolutionary" with left-wing beliefs who allegedly posed a danger to the Canadian Government. After his dismissal in 1973 Rudnicki worked as a consultant to the Department of Health and Social Development, Province of Manitoba (1974-1977). In 1983, Clerk of the PCO Gordon Osbaldeston and Daniel Coates initiated the process of re-hiring Walter Rudnicki back into an appropriate position within the Federal Government. Rudnicki was hired by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to work on program planning and policy development. After 1977, Rudnicki was President of the Policy Development Group Limited (PDG), a private consulting firm that worked with prominent aboriginal leaders.
He passed away on March 7, 2010 in Ottawa.