The first Indigenous woman to be elected to the BC legislature is stepping down and is describing her time in Victoria as a “torture chamber.”
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Melanie Mark announced she is leaving elected life in an emotional speech on the floor of the legislature Wednesday afternoon.
Mark, who is also the first First Nations woman to serve in cabinet, says getting things accomplished in Victoria was challenging due to “colonial” roadblocks.
“Institutions fundamentally reject change. They are allergic to doing things differently. Particularly colonial institutions like this legislature and government at large,” Mark said.
“This place felt like a torture chamber. I will not miss the character assassination.”
Mark served as Minister of Advanced Education and Tourism, Sport and Culture in John Horgan’s cabinet. She stepped down last September due to personal reasons and has been serving as a minister without a portfolio since then.
Mark was first elected in a 2016 by-election.
“I will continue my fight for positive change from outside this house,” Mark said.
“I will continue to use my big mouth to speak up for the voiceless and those who do not vote. Namely, children, missing and murdered Indigenous girls and Mother Earth.”
Fighting through tears, Mark explained she is deciding to step away from politics to support her daughters and take care of herself.
She did not announce an official date for her departure.
“The journey is long but if we paddle together we will all get there. I am not quitting. I am standing up for myself. As a single mother I am, for the first time, looking out for myself and my children first,” Mark said.
Mark has spoken in the past about the abuse she suffered as a child and moving through the foster system.
Before entering politics she worked for the province’s Representative for Children and Youth.
Mark was the tourism minister during the controversy over the future of the Royal BC Museum.
“Members of this house have heard me say we need to paddle together. The reality is the political environment is cutthroat and dysfunctional,” Mark said.
“Future generations need us to have the guts to have their back.”
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