Clément Chartier, a citizen of the Métis Nation, was born at Ile a la Crosse in Northwestern Saskatchewan in 1946 and raised in the nearby Métis community of Buffalo Narrows. He is known widely around the world as a lawyer, writer, lecturer and activist.

Clément received his elementary education at Ile a laCrosse Mission Boarding School. He attended high school at The Pas, Manitoba and Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He graduated from Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in 1967 and from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Laws in 1978. He has been a member of the Saskatchewan Bar since 1980. In his youth, Clément also was engaged as a commercial fisherman, labourer and taxi-driver.

Clément Chartier has served in both political and administrative capacities with numerous Indigenous organizations including:

• Native Youth Association of Canada: Executive Director
• Métis National Council: Chairperson
• World Council of Indigenous Peoples: President
• Canadian Indian Lawyers Association: President
• Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples: Policy Analyst

• Métis National Council: Ambassador
• Methy Pathways in Buffalo Narrows: Manager

Clément Chartier is most well known for his work on Métis and Aboriginal rights in general. He has acted as a spokesperson and advisor to the Métis Nation in several First Ministers Conferences on the Canadian Constitution and in sessions of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in Geneva. Further, Mr. Chartier has used his legal training to push forward the Métis Nation’s rights agenda in the courts. He has appeared before various levels of court throughout the country. In 1995, he acted as counsel in the landmark R. v. Morin & Daigneault decision which affirmed the harvesting rights of the Métis of Northwest Saskatchewan: he acted as counsel in the R. v. Grumbo case out of Saskatchewan and acted as one of the lawyers for the Métis National Council interventions in the case of R. v. Powley before the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Chartier continues to act as counsel and ad advisor on various Métis rights cases throughout the Métis Nation.

Clément Chartier served as President of the Métis Nation – Saskatchewan from February 1998 to December 2003. In this capacity he also served on the Métis National Council Board of Governors, and held the portfolio of Minister for Métis Rights and Self-Government.  President Clément Chartier was elected national president of the Métis National Council by acclamation at the Métis National Council’s General Assembly on October 24, 2003, and was re-elected to a second term in March 2008.

In February of 2004, based on his years of respected legal work, Mr. Chartier was granted the distinction of Queen’s Counsel by the Government of Saskatchewan.