‘A huge honour:’ Clark wins second term as Saskatoon’s mayor

Saskatoon has spoken. 

With all 77 polls in, Charlie Clark will serve a second term as mayor of Saskatoon. 

Clark beat five other candidates handily, including former cabinet minister Rob Norris and former mayor Don Atchison. 

“People know me, they know how I am as mayor… I want to provide that same strong, steady leadership that’s collaborative,” he said. 

Atchison told 650 CKOM that voters had their say Friday, as to who they wanted as the next mayor. 

“That’s what democracy is all about,” he said. 

During his concession speech, Norris echoed those comments. 

“Tonight, the voters have spoken clearly. I appreciate the opportunity to have participated in this election,” he said. 

Friday’s civic election was delayed, with the original election day scheduled for Monday. 

A blizzard hit the city over the weekend, dumping 30 to 40 cm of snow— leaving many residential areas impassible Monday.

With extended advance polls and mail-in ballots, at least 55,000 voters cast their ballots according to preliminary reports. 

Clark talked of the dedication of many getting their ballots in during the extended election charge. 

“(I want to thank those) who took their time to trudge through snow and to go through the mail-in ballot process and all of the crazy things that it took to vote this year… it’s a huge honour to have earned your trust and respect,” he said. 

Norris came second to Clark, but by about 12,000 votes.  

Mayoral candidates Cary Tarasoff, Zubair Sheikh and Mark Zielke rounded out the six hopefuls. 

Although Norris didn’t see the result he originally wanted, his concession speech included a thank you to those residing in the Bridge City. 

“I most especially want to thank the citizens of Saskatoon who were gracious in opening up their doors, opening their hearts and spending a few minutes and sometimes a few hours in sharing their stories,” he said.  

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Lara Fominoff