Melanie Mark announces resignation from B.C. legislature

The first Indigenous woman to serve as a B.C. cabinet minister has announced that she is resigning from her seat in the legislature.

During a speech Wednesday, Melanie Mark says that she is stepping due down in part due to family matters, and spoke of her recent diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

“This decision did not come lightly. I’m not quitting. If anything, I’m standing up for myself. For the first time in my life, I’m exercising my self determination as a single mother to put myself and my daughters first,” she said.

Van-Mt Pleasant MLA @melaniejmark making her last speech as MLA @BCLegislature house. She is resigning the seat she has held since 2016. She resigned from cabinet for personal matters in Sept. Her emotional speech outlining her path to where she is now.@CityNewsVAN @bcpoli

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) February 22, 2023

She also reflected on her upbringing and journey as an Indigenous politician.

“I am still the only First Nation’s woman to hold a seat in these chambers and serve in our cabinet,” Mark said.

“I wanted to be an MLA so I could be a strong voice for my community, the people I grew up with, so I could be a champion for change. I wanted to disrupt the status quo, I wanted big systems change. In many ways, I have done what I came here to do. But it’s also a fact that institutions fundamentally resist change,” Mark said.

Although she says that she has been “proud” to represent the constituency, she says it is “time for me to make a change.”

“This journey has been challenging and has come at a significant personal toll. This place is like a torture chamber. I will not miss the character assassination.”

She adds that taking the role as a cabinet minister was one of the proudest moments of her life.

“The journey is still hard and it is still long, but it’s only by paddling together that we will arrive together in a distant shore where we can make life better for all, as they say, ‘never say never.’ But for now, my canoe is heading in another direction,” Mark said.

“I may have been the first First Nations woman to have a seat in this house, but I will do my level best to ensure that I won’t be the last.”

Last September, the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA resigned from the NDP cabinet, where she served as Minister of Tourism, citing personal matters.

Once Mark officially tenders her resignation, a by-election must be held within six months.

With files from Michael Williams