First Nations MLA: “You can throw darts at me any day, as long as it’s the truth.
Melanie Mark, who was the first First Nations woman to serve in the British Columbia Legislature and as a cabinet minister, said the day after she announced her resignation that she feels “at peace” with her decision.
Speaking on CBC’s The Early EditionThe NDP MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant also said she has “a sense of freedom.” And in her Wednesday announcement, she called the legislature a “torture chamber.” She also said that the Liberal Opposition went too far in their criticism of her during her time in office.
She said, “I’ll tell them to look at Hansard.” “There is proof that the opposition stood up and said bad things about me.” “I think I was accused of stealing money from the public at one point because I put dry cleaning on my expense report.”
“I was told that I had deleted emails. I was accused of ruining the cruise ship business, even though it’s not my job to make sure our ports follow federal rules. I was accused of ruining the RBC Museum, which is also known as the Royal BC Museum.
Mark’s return to the legislature was hard for him
Mark, who is of Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Cree, and Ojibway descent, was first elected in 2016 and served as minister of advanced education, skills, and training and then tourism minister until September 2022, when she resigned.resigned from the positionso she could take care of a medical problem and focus on her family and mental health.
“I had a chance to be home, and when I went back to the legislature earlier this year, the trauma came back—going back into the legislature and looking across at the Liberals,” she said.
Mark said that, as an MLA, she was “loud in the House,” but he said that making statements on the floor comes down to being honest.
“As long as it’s true, you can throw darts at me any time.”
Mark also said that being a politician shouldn’t mean “getting beat up.”
“As a woman from an Indigenous culture, I just don’t think you should go to work like that.” I think you should treat people with respect and kindness at work and everywhere else. People find it too easy to attack politicians these days, and I think we can do better. “I want us to do a better job.”
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs gave Mark an award later on Thursday. She shed tears and shared laughter with leaders from First Nations across the province, saying she felt “blanketed with love” during a ceremony held at the Musqueam Community Centre.
It’s my job to ask hard questions. Falco
Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said Thursday, in response to Mark’s comments about how she thought she was treated in the legislature, “If that’s how she feels, that’s how she feels.”
“And it’s real to her, and there’s no doubt about it,” he added. “But I also think it’s important to note that, as the opposition, it’s our job to ask the government tough questions.”
Falcon said that Mark was a pioneer in provincial politics and that it was too bad that she felt her time in the legislature was tainted.
“I feel bad for her because of that.”
Mark ‘gave it her all
Mark is leaving provincial politics in British Columbia after seven years, and the president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council in Port Alberni, Judith Sayers, said she’ll be missed.
Sayers said on CBC’s “The National”: “I think we can all agree that Melanie Mark made a difference.”B.C. Today“By becoming a minister in two different areas, she made a difference.” She spoke up for Indigenous people and was able to make some good changes, though not everything she would have liked to do because of the jobs she held. So I think Melanie Mark can walk away knowing she did her best and with her head held high.
Chi Nguyen, the head of Equal Voice in Ottawa, a group that supports women and candidates of different genders at all levels of government, called Mark’s harsh words about how she was treated in office “absolutely remarkable.”
“To hear someone who has been in service and doing this work for seven years and is a real leader and role model for many communities say that the environment is hard and difficult is a real toll for all leaders, but especially for women, women of color, and Indigenous community members. “This is not an easy job.”
Mark plans to focus on famil
Mark said that she is leaving her job as an MLA not because being an MLA is hard but because she wants to spend more time with her daughters, Maya and Makayla. She said she wants to spend more time with her family, but she also wants to “mentor and coach” the next MLA, who she hopes will also be Indigenous.
“Now I know what to do,” she said. “I didn’t have a plan when I joined the Legislature.”
Mark will let everyone know that she is leaving by the end of March.
A representative for the NDP said that a date for a byelection has not been set yet.