Charlie Watt | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Inkerman, Quebec | |
| In office January 16, 1984 – March 16, 2018 | |
| Nominated by | Pierre Trudeau |
| Appointed by | Edward Schreyer |
| Preceded by | Maurice Lamontagne |
| Succeeded by | Julie Miville-Dechêne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 29, 1944 Fort Chimo, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Independent Liberal |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal |
| Relatives | Sheila Watt-Cloutier (sister) |
| Committees | The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans |
| Website | [1] |
Charlie Watt OQ (born June 29, 1944[2]) is a former Canadian Senator from Nunavik, Quebec.
A hunter and businessman by profession, Watt is an Inuk and served as Northern officer with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs from 1969 to 1979. He was an early leader in the Indigenous rights movement in Canada, and represented the Quebec Inuit in the negotiations leading to the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.
In 1984 he was appointed to serve in the Senate of Canada, and he was the second Inuk to achieve this post.
In 1994, he was named Officer of the National Order of Québec.
In 2018, he resigned from the Senate of Canada following 34 years of representing the Inuit in the Upper Chamber. He did so following his election to President of Makivik Corporation. This was his third election to the position, and he achieved it with 54% of the vote.
He resigned from the Senate, effective March 16, 2018[3] in order to focus on his duties with Makivik.[4]
He is the brother of activist and author Sheila Watt-Cloutier.