Saskatoon, STC sign formal reconciliation agreement

The City of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) ushered in a new era of reconciliation with the signing of a formal agreement Friday.

Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark and chiefs of the seven first nations that make up the STC — Kinistin Saulteaux Nation, Muskeg Lake, Mistawasis, Whitecap Dakota, Yellow Quill, One Arrow and Muskoday — signed the agreement that will establish new processes like meeting protocols and a framework to achieve shared goals over the next five years.

Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand (left) and Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark (right) pose with the freshly signed agreement on Oct. 25, 2019. (Keenan Sorokan/650 CKOM)

“It just helps to make that relationship stronger,” Clark said of the agreement. “We know we have very important work to do to close the gaps in outcomes between First Nations kids and indigenous kids in our community and non-indigenous kids.”

Called “Sharing Prosperity Through Reconciliation,” Arcand sees the agreement as another way Saskatoon is ready to answer the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.

With over 80 organizations across the city pledging to increase reconciliation efforts, Arcand thinks this agreement could prove as an example for other cities to draft similar agreements.

“I’d like to see other cities, other municipalities do the same thing with other first nations organizations so we can work together to have a quality of life,” Arcand said. “How many other cities have that type of a relationship where we have First Nations and non-First Nations people coming together?

“We can’t correct the wrongs, but we can surely correct the future.”