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Inky Mark Wikipedia

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Inky Mark (?????????, pinyin: M??i D??ngh??ng) (born November 17, 1947) is a Canada|Canadian politician and a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, sitting for the Manitoba riding of Dauphin-Swan River. Mark is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Mark was born in Taishan, China|Taishan, China, and moved to the Canadian province of Manitoba as a child. Mark's father and grandfather had emigrated from China to Canada some time previously, but were unable to bring their families with them as a result of provisions in the Chinese Immigration Act (more commonly known as the Chinese Exclusion Act) of 1923. Mark accompanied his mother when she fled China in 1955, and subsequently settled with his family in the Manitoba community of Gilbert Plains, Manitoba|Gilbert Plains.

Mark has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandon University, and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba. Before entering political life, he worked as a high school teacher and small businessman. Mark also has a certificate in broadcasting, although it is unclear if he has ever worked in this field.

Mark's political career began at the municipal level. He was elected to the Dauphin, Manitoba|Dauphin town council in 1991, and became the town's Mayor in 1994. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the Canadian general election, 1997|federal election of 1997, running as a candidate of the Reform Party of Canada|Reform Party in the riding of Dauphin-Swan River. He received 12668 votes, against 7716 for his nearest competitor, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative Lorne Boguski. The incumbent, Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Marlene Cowling, finished fourth with 7408 votes. From 1997 to 2000, Mark was one of only two Chinese-Canadian Member of Parliament|MPs in the House of Commons (the other was Liberal Cabinet Minister Raymond Chan).

The Reform Party dissolved itself in 2000 in favour of the Canadian Alliance, and Mark ran as a candidate of the new party in the Canadian general election, 2000|general election which followed. He was easily re-elected, defeating his nearest competitor, Liberal Jane Dawson, by a margin of 15855 votes to 7091.

Mark's career followed an usual trajectory between 2001 and 2004. As the Alliance's parliamentary critic for Immigration, Mark was responsible for expressing his party's position on the Liberal government's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act -- which he did on a number of occasions in the spring and summer months of 2001. He also contributed to the parliamentary committee's work in drafting the final version of the bill, and was generally regarded by MPs from all parties has having made several constructive criticisms to the legislation.

On June 13, 2001, however, Mark's position on the bill was undercut by Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, who delivered a speech in parliament supporting tighter restrictions against refugee claimants and reduced opportunities for rejected claimants to appeal to the Refugee Board. Day's comments diverged from Mark's stated position on several particulars, and his speech was regarded as very surprising by many other MPs then in the house. (Liberal MP Steve Mahoney referred to Day's comments as "treachery" towards Mark, for which he was ruled out of order by the Speaker.)

Mark had not previously been among the Canadian Alliance MPs agitating for Day's removal as leader, but following Day's speech he joined a group of party dissidents led by Chuck Strahl and Deborah Grey. On September 12, 2001, Mark left the Canadian Alliance caucus to sit as a member of the Democratic Representative Caucus, in alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative Party.

The DRC came to an end on April 10, 2002, when Stephen Harper replaced Day as Canadian Alliance leader. Every other member of the DRC requested to be re-admitted to the Alliance; Mark did not join them, but instead decided to sit as an Independent Conservative, with the intention of joining the Progressive Conservative Party at their annual party convention later in the year. Mark formally joined the Progressive Conservatives on August 27, 2002.

Late in 2003, the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party formally merged to create the new Conservative Party of Canada. Mark supported the merger, and formally joined the new party's caucus on February 2, 2004. Ironically, the merger placed Mark back among the Canadian Alliance MPs with whom he had parted company in 2002.

Mark was easily re-elected in the Canadian general election, 2004|Canadian federal election of 2004, receiving nearly three times as many votes as his nearest challenger, New Democrat Walter Kolisnyk.

Ideologically, Mark may be defined as a fiscal conservative with some leanings toward social conservative|social conservatism (along he has not emphasized the latter in his speeches or campaigns), holding progressive views on issues involving cultural change within Canada (as evidenced by the 2001 controversy). He supports the principle of a National Identity Card, so as to encourage immigration while also protecting the country from terrorist threats.

Mark is not a dynamic speaker, and is not a prominent figure in the Conservative Party.

Recently, Mark has claimed that he was offered an ambassadorship by an unnamed cabinet minister, in exchange for vacating his seat in the House of Commons prior to a pivotal budget vote. The Liberals deny the allegation.

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succession box|title=Canadian House of Commons|Member of Parliament for Dauphin???Swan River???Marquette|
before=Marlene Cowling|
after=Incumbent|
years=1997-present
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MB-FedRep

Category:1947 births|Mark, Inky
Category:Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Manitoba|Mark, Inky
Category:Chinese Canadians|Mark, Inky

Last Modified:   2005-11-07