Father, with joy we thank you for the Hon. Melanie Mark. For her tenacity and inspired vision for the future of the people of BC. Thank you for her passion for education and her willingness to serve out of and within that passion. Thank you for her family and the strength they are to her. Through her family, Father, bring about positive, permanent change in BC. Protect them, Father. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Melanie Mark was appointed Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport in 2020, previously she was Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. She was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2017. Melanie is Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Cree, Ojibway, French and Scottish and a mother of two girls – Maya and Makayla. She is the first female First Nations Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and the first female First Nations Cabinet Minister. For eight years, she worked at the British Columbia’s Office of the Representative for Children and Youth as an advocate for one of the province’s most-vulnerable populations. Melanie holds a degree in Political Science and a minor in Sociology from Simon Fraser University, as well as a Criminology Diploma from the Native Education College / Douglas College partnership. She also holds an Advanced Executive Certificate in General Management from Queen’s School of Business. She co-founded the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre and was the National Aboriginal Project Coordinator with Save the Children Canada’s Sacred Lives project. In 2015, Melanie received the Chief Joe Mathias Leadership Award from the Native Education College, and in 2006, received the YWCA Vancouver Young Woman of Distinction Award.