Charlie Clark
Charlie Clark’s ancestral roots are English, Irish, and German. He grew up mostly in British Columbia before moving to Saskatoon where he and his wife Sarah have been living since 2002, raising their three children and their dog Cocoa.
Charlie served as Mayor of Saskatoon from 2016-2024, and was a City Councillor for ten years before that. During that time Charlie worked with First Nation and Metis governments and organizations to strengthen relationships and build partnerships, working together with on a wide variety of initiatives.
During this time Charlie had the opportunity to sit with Indigenous Elders, Chiefs, Families, Youth, Staff members both in Saskatoon and neighbouring communities to learn about the truth about our history, First Nation Traditional worldviews and about how to build Miyo-Wahkotowin (good relationships).
Throughout this time, Charlie has also been part of local, provincial, and national conversations about how to return to the original spirit and intent of the Treaty Relationship - to work towards Wetaskiwin (living peacefully together on this land) through supporting each other to build Miyo-Pimatisiwin - good livelihoods. He is aware that he has only just begun to understand these core Treaty principles, but believes that these principles can be the basis for creating a better society and future for everyone.
Today Charlie is doing work with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner exploring how to strengthen relationships between First Nations and Municipal Partners across Saskatchewan. This has already been an inspiring experience meeting visionary and courageous people across the province forging paths of Reconciliation that he had no idea were underway.
As part of the Speaker’s Bureau Charlie can share his perspective of what he has learned as a non-Indigenous person and a Mayor working towards Truth and Reconciliation. He understands how the failure to live up to the Treaty Relationship has impacted our ability to build trust and how we can work as Treaty Partners to build the bridges needed to fulfill the Treaty Relationship as it is meant to be. Together, we can build better relations and a better future for all of our children and grandchildren
Topics:
A non-Indigenous journey of understanding the spirit and intent of Treaties; rebuilding Treaty relationships at the community level; and confronting the challenges and opportunities of rebuilding trust after generations of colonial-based relations.
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