Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark said he won’t be in the running in the 2024 municipal election.
Clark made the announcement Wednesday, reminiscing about some of the work he’s done while in office.
“There’s two main reasons that I have come to this decision. It’s a difficult decision,” Clark said.
He said he wants to spend more time with his kids, and that he didn’t get into politics to be a career politician.
Clark said he doesn’t know what his next steps are and dispelled some rumours that had been making the rounds.
“I do not plan on running for provincial or federal politics in any of the upcoming elections.”
He first ran in politics in 2006, sitting as the Ward 6 city councillor for ten years.
Clark was elected as mayor back in 2016 and got re-elected in 2020.
He said he was very grateful for taking the leap to run for election when he did, and encouraged others to take a similar leap if they were considering it.
“I would encourage anyone thinking of doing something that is both scary but meaningful to do it.”
Clark said the current council is still elected until this November and that they still have important work to do, pointing to issues like homelessness and the Downtown Event and Entertainment District.
He said while the work as mayor has been incredibly rewarding, it could also be very demanding.
“You’d see a record of so many nights when I had said I’ll be home by 5:00 or 5:30 to help with the supper and sit down with the family, but some curveball would come in and I wouldn’t be home until 9:00 or 10:00.”
Clark said he believes that one of the greatest measures of a city’s capacity to be healthy and successful is how healthy the relationships are between the people who live there.
“And in a city that has become as diverse as ours, this requires extra effort and sometimes uncomfortable work to learn what it takes to ensure a sense of belonging and opportunity for everyone.”
He said he wants to continue to help build those relationships.