Melanie Mark is a Canadian politician. She is a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). She has served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant since 2016. From 2017 to 2020, she served as Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Training; from 2020 to 2022, she served as Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport. She is the wife of a basketball coach, Cassidy Kannemeyer.
Melanie Mark is the first First Nations woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and the first First Nations woman to serve in the Cabinet of British Columbia. On February 22, 2023, she announced her resignation as MLA and cabinet minister.
What is Melanie Mark’s ethnicity?
Melanie Mark was born in the year 1975 in East Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada. Melanie Joy Mark is his birth name. She is also known by her Nisga’a name Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak. By nationality, he is Canadian whereas her ethnicity is mixed as she is of Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Cree, and Ojibway ancestry. Melanie credits her aunts and grandparents with helping her get through the death of her younger brother who was killed by a semi-trailer while riding a bicycle, her mother’s addiction and homelessness, and her father’s overdose. Her present age is 37 as of 2022.
Melanie became the first person in her family to graduate from high school and attend college and university after attending six different high schools, including Van Tech, Tupper, and Ladysmith. She earned a degree in political science at Simon Fraser University (SFU) after attending several different schools, including Van Tech, Douglas College, Native Education College, and Queen’s School of Business.
She served as president of the Urban Native Youth Association from the year 2000 to 2006. She is also the co-founder of the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre. In 2007, she worked for eight years in the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth, becoming an associate deputy representative in 2013. In the year 2006, she received the YWCA Vancouver Young Woman of Distinction Award, and in 2015, she received the Chief Joe Mathias Leadership Award from the Native Education College. In 2016, she was the recipient of the inaugural Janusz Korczak Medal for Children’s Rights Advocacy and in the year 2018, she was the recipient of the Stenberg College, Be the Change, Community Leadership Award.
Melanie Mark’s Political Career
- Melanie Mark entered the nomination contest to be the New Democratic Party (NDP)’s candidate for the ensuing by-election. She defeated Diana Day for the NDP nomination on 14th June 2015. She was elected with 61% of the vote, defeating BC Liberal Party candidate Gavin Dew and Green Party of British Columbia candidate Pete Fry when the by-election was held on February 2, 2016.
- Following the 2017 general election, she was named the Minister of Advanced Education in July 2017.
- Following the 2020 election, she was named the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport on November 26. She announced that she would step down from the cabinet in order to take medical leave, and was appointed a minister without portfolio on 28th September 2022.
- On 22nd February 2023, she announced her resignation as MLA and cabinet minister. In her resignation speech, she criticized how “institutions fundamentally resist change … particularly colonial institutions and government at large,” and said that she would “continue to advocate and fight from outside of this House.” She also went on to state that the “nastiness from white men in here is awful.”
Who is Melanie Mark’s husband?
Melanie Mark is a married woman. She tied the knot to her husband, Cassidy Kannemeyer. By profession, Cassidy is a basketball coach. The duo has been married for several years and they are enjoying their present life a lot without any disturbances. Their love bond is getting intense with the passage of time.
Melanie Mark is a mother of two children with her husband. The family is living a happy life right now.
What is Melanie Mark’s Net Worth?
Melanie Mark is a politician. From her political career, she has accumulated a cool sum of money. Her main source of wealth comes from political industry.
Melanie Mark has an estimated net worth of around $500K at the time of writing. She is making her annual income/salary in thousand of dollars from her professional career. She is living a modest lifestyle at present.
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