The first indigenous woman to be elected to the BC legislature, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Melanie Mark, announced she's stepping down, citing a “colonial” institution..Addressing the legislature Wednesday, Mark said the room felt like a “torture chamber,” adding she “will not miss the character assassination.”."I have been an advocate in public for 27 years, and I'll continue to advocate and fight from outside of this house... to speak up for the voiceless and for those who don't vote," she said, thanking her supporters present in the gallery..Mark’s resignation will be official by the end of March..Asked about the “torture chamber” comment, Mark told reporters that women get it worse than men in the legislature..“The nastiness from white men here is awful. I put up with enough abuse in my life,” said Mark, who previously stated her “eagle feathers reached the highest level of political office in this province thanks to John Horgan.”.Mark won the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant by-election in 2016 and was appointed to cabinet in 2017..“For me and for my colleagues, for all of us, it was a sign that Melanie had changed this place forever just by showing up in the room,” said Premier David Eby..Opposition Liberal House Leader Todd Stone called Mark a trailblazer..“We’re all very hopeful that there will be a future where more indigenous peoples will sit in this place and where more First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people will see themselves in this house,” he said..Mark was the tourism minister during last year’s $800-million Royal BC Museum controversy..A date for the next by-election has not been set.
The first indigenous woman to be elected to the BC legislature, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Melanie Mark, announced she's stepping down, citing a “colonial” institution..Addressing the legislature Wednesday, Mark said the room felt like a “torture chamber,” adding she “will not miss the character assassination.”."I have been an advocate in public for 27 years, and I'll continue to advocate and fight from outside of this house... to speak up for the voiceless and for those who don't vote," she said, thanking her supporters present in the gallery..Mark’s resignation will be official by the end of March..Asked about the “torture chamber” comment, Mark told reporters that women get it worse than men in the legislature..“The nastiness from white men here is awful. I put up with enough abuse in my life,” said Mark, who previously stated her “eagle feathers reached the highest level of political office in this province thanks to John Horgan.”.Mark won the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant by-election in 2016 and was appointed to cabinet in 2017..“For me and for my colleagues, for all of us, it was a sign that Melanie had changed this place forever just by showing up in the room,” said Premier David Eby..Opposition Liberal House Leader Todd Stone called Mark a trailblazer..“We’re all very hopeful that there will be a future where more indigenous peoples will sit in this place and where more First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people will see themselves in this house,” he said..Mark was the tourism minister during last year’s $800-million Royal BC Museum controversy..A date for the next by-election has not been set.
