Editing Inky Mark (section)

==Political career==

===Municipal politics===
Mark's political career started when joined the Board of Directors of the Dauphin First United Church.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/riding/217/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040615021700/http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/riding/217/| archive-date = 2004-06-15| title = CBC - Canada Votes 2004}}</ref> He was subsequently elected to the [[Dauphin, Manitoba|Dauphin]] town council in 1991, and became the town's [[mayor]] in 1994.

===Federal politics===

Mark was first elected to the House of Commons in the [[1997 Canadian federal election|federal election of 1997]], running as a candidate of the [[Reform Party of Canada|Reform Party]] in the riding of [[Dauphin—Swan River]]. From 1997 to 2000, Mark was one of only three Chinese-Canadian [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|MPs]] in the House of Commons.

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 [[2000 Canadian federal election|federal election which followed]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/liberals-slip-gear-heading-westward/article4169384/|title=Liberals slip gear heading westward|work=The Globe and Mail|date=November 28, 2000|access-date=2015-10-17}}</ref>

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 rejoining the Progressive Conservatives at their annual party convention later in the year; he had been a Progressive Conservative before the early 1990s.  Mark formally joined the Progressive Conservatives on August 27, 2002.

In December 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. Mark was easily re-elected in the [[2004 Canadian federal election|Canadian federal election of 2004]].

In 2005, Mark alleged that Treasury Board President and Liberal MP [[Reg Alcock]] offered him an ambassadorship if he were to resign his seat. Alcock responded by saying, "Frankly, if I was going to recruit somebody, I'd go a little higher up the gene pool." Mark called this comment racist and filed a complaint with the [[Canadian Human Rights Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/inky_mark_launches_human_rights_complaint_against_liberal/ | title=Inky Mark launches human rights complaint against Liberal| date=2005-05-17}}</ref> As the CHRC does not publish its investigations, it is not possible to know the outcome of this case.

===Criticism and complaints===
While a sitting MP, Mark gained a reputation as "an outsider" within the Conservative caucus.  Mark is and has been an outspoken critic of Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]], the Prime Minister's Office, and several sitting and former Conservative MPs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/15/inky-mark-cims-robocalls-canada-voter-id-system_n_1348957.html|title=Inky Mark: Voter ID System Triggered Misgivings, Says Former Tory MP|work=Huffington Post|date=March 15, 2012|access-date=2014-12-11|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012340/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/15/inky-mark-cims-robocalls-canada-voter-id-system_n_1348957.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He frequently complained that Harper was controlling, and he responded by refusing to attend Conservative events. Mark has called Harper a "[[fascist]]" and complained that he runs a "top-down [[dictatorship]]".<ref>{{cite tweet|user=inky_mark|author=Inky Mark|number=536307478829350913|date=22 November 2014|title=@Anti_Reform @canadianglen under Manning it was about bottom up democracy,under Harper, it really TOP down dictatorship}}</ref> He says that the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] is controlled by the United States' [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], and that the Republican Party installed [[Stephen Harper]] as the Canadian Prime Minister in order to sell out Canada to the United States.

Following the announcement of his resignation, Mark complained that the nomination race for his successor was rigged, and allowed [[Robert Sopuck]] to be acclaimed without competition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tory-nomination-process-unfair-ex-mp-1.935505|title=Tory nomination process unfair: ex-MP|work=CBC News|date=November 3, 2010|access-date=2014-12-11}}</ref>

Following his resignation as an MP, Mark stepped up his criticisms of the Harper government. He complained that the nomination race for the Conservative candidate following the resignation of [[Labrador]] MP [[Peter Penashue]] was rigged because Harper "wants a candidate he can control".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/19/peter-penashue-byelection_n_2909703.html|title=Peter Penashue Byelection: Harper Wants A Candidate He Can Control, Ex-Tory MP Says|work=Huffington Post|date=March 19, 2013|access-date=2014-12-11}}</ref> He also complained that the nomination race to replace [[Merv Tweed]] was rigged, and that the eventual successor, [[Larry Maguire]], was just a "rubber stamp" for Harper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.canoe.ca/davidakin/politics/a-reader-writes-inky-mark-on-merv-tweed-and-stephen-harper/ |title=A reader writes: Inky Mark on Merv Tweed and Stephen Harper &#124; David Akin's on the Hill |access-date=2014-11-14 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141114011230/http://blogs.canoe.ca/davidakin/politics/a-reader-writes-inky-mark-on-merv-tweed-and-stephen-harper/ |archive-date=2014-11-14 }}</ref> Mark was featured prominently in the book ''Tragedy in the Commons'',<ref>Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan, Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak out About Canada's Failing Democracy (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2014)</ref> where almost every chapter quoted Mark's complaints about the way Harper's government was run.

Mark complained that the Conservatives' Constituent Information Management System (CIMS) was a secretive database used to track and control Canadians' information and voting preferences, and said that Harper could simply "switch off" this system to punish an MP.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://vimeo.com/106419647| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012448/http://vimeo.com/106419647| archive-date = 2014-11-29| title = Former Conservative MP INKY MARK discusses CIMS on Vimeo}}</ref>

===Parliamentary work===
For his tenure as an MP, Mark was always a "[[backbencher]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/au-revoir-2/|title=Au revoir|work=Maclean's|date=August 17, 2010|access-date=2014-12-11}}</ref>

In 2001, 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 during the immigration controversy involving the Sklarzyk family who, as a result of an administrative error, was deported from Canada to Poland in May 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?pub=Hansard&doc=73&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=37&Ses=1#T1935|title=37th Parliament, 1st Session|date=June 6, 2001|access-date=2014-12-11|archive-date=15 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015052940/http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?doc=73&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=37&pub=Hansard&Ses=1#T1935|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 as having made several constructive criticisms to the legislation.

However, on June 13, 2001, 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 in the House of Commons. For example, Liberal MP [[Steve Mahoney]] referred to Day's comments as "treachery" towards Mark, for which he was ruled out of order by the Speaker.

In 2005, Mark's private members' Bill C-331 (Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act) was passed by the House of Commons and Senate of Canada, eventually resulting in the establishment of the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, supporting educational and commemorative projects recalling Canada's first national internment operations of 1914–1920.

===Federal resignation and return to municipal politics===
Mark announced in June 2009 that he would be resigning before the next federal election.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mia|last=Rabson|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Manitoba-MP-calling-it-a-career-48869272.html|title=Manitoba MP calling it a career|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=June 23, 2009|access-date=2014-12-11}}</ref> On August 16, 2010, he announced that he would step down as an MP on September 15 to campaign for another term as mayor of Dauphin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/inky-hopes-to-make-a-mark-as-mayor-again-100867179.html|title=Inky hopes to make a Mark as mayor again|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=August 17, 2010|access-date=2014-12-11|last1=Rabson|first1=Mia}}</ref> However, he [[2010 Manitoba municipal elections|lost]] to Eric Irwin.

===Return to federal politics and switch to Green Party of Canada===
Mark announced on November 13, 2014, that he would be running as an independent candidate for the [[2015 Canadian federal election|2015 federal election]] in [[Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa]], which includes nearly all of his old riding.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Inky-Mark-to-run-in-next-federal-election-as-independant-282598531.html|title=Inky Mark to run in next federal election as independent|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=November 13, 2014|access-date=2014-12-10}}</ref> Mark announced that he is now a member of the [[Green Party of Canada]], but would still seek election in 2015 as an independent candidate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/election-manitoba-dauphin-swan-river-neepawa-1.3254754|title=Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa candidate profiles|publisher=CBC News|date=October 7, 2015|access-date=2015-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.producer.com/2015/10/candidates-vie-for-rural-manitoba-votes/|title=Candidates vie for rural Manitoba votes|work=The Western Producer|date=October 1, 2015|access-date=2015-10-17}}</ref> Mark finished a distant fourth behind Sopuck, garnering only eight percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/election-results-dauphin-swan-river-neepawa-1.3272819|title=Conservative Robert Sopuck re-elected in Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa|publisher=CBC News|date=October 19, 2015|access-date=2015-11-07}}</ref>