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The Honourable
Mark Parent
Ph.D M.Div.
The Honourable Mark Parent Ph.D M.Div.
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly; for Kings North
	In office; July 27, 1999 – June 9, 2009
Preceded by	George Archibald
Succeeded by	Jim Morton
Minister of Environment and Labour
	In office; June 26, 2006 – April 24, 2008
Premier	Rodney MacDonald
Preceded by	Carolyn Bolivar-Getson
Succeeded by	David Morse
Minister of the Environment
	In office; April 24, 2008 – January 8, 2009
Premier	Rodney MacDonald
Preceded by	Ministry Created
Succeeded by	Sterling Belliveau
Minister of Labour and Workplace Development
	In office; April 24, 2008 – January 8, 2009
Premier	Rodney MacDonald
Preceded by	Ministry Created
Succeeded by	Marilyn More
Minister of Agriculture
	In office; January 8, 2009 – June 9, 2009
Premier	Rodney MacDonald
Preceded by	Brooke Taylor
Succeeded by	John MacDonell
Personal details
Born	August 25, 1954 (age 70); Port Williams, Nova Scotia
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s)	Cathy; Margie Jenkins
Occupation	Pastor

Mark Parent (born August 25, 1954) is a Canadian clergyman, author, academic, and former politician in Nova Scotia.

Parent is the son of Baptist missionaries Hazen Coles Parent and Hazel Mildred Anderson. Parent was raised in Bolivia, South America before returning to Canada for post secondary studies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University, a Master of Divinity from Acadia Divinity College, and a Doctor of Philosophy from McGill University.

Parent is married to his second wife Margie Jenkins and together they have five grown children. His first wife, Cathy, died in 1998.

Parent served in various churches in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before returning home in 1994 to serve as pastor of the Pereaux United Baptist Church. During the late 1990s he was an associate professor of Religious Studies at Mount Allison University.

Political career

"Politics is the art of doing the impossible, with the unwilling, for the ungrateful."

Mark Parent
The Daily News
October 2, 1999

In 1997, Parent volunteered as the Policy Chair for the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia.

In 1999 Parent successfully ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding of Kings North.^[1] He was elected in the 1999 provincial election with 49.05% of the vote.^[2]

As a legislator, Parent became known for speaking frankly both in the House of Assembly and to the media,^[3]^[4] and expressed dissatisfaction with how the legislature conducted its business.^[5]

Parent was re-elected in the 2003 provincial election with 50.2%.^[6] In the 2006 election, Parent was re-elected with 50.07%.^[7]

In 2006 Parent was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia where he served as Minister of Environment and Labour.^[8]^[9] While Minister, Parent oversaw the division of the Department of Environment and Labour into two portfolios in April 2008, consisting of a separate Department of Environment and a separate Department of Labour and Workforce Development.^[10] Parent served as Minister for those portfolios until January 2009, when he was appointed Minister of Agriculture,^[11] just days before he was to release Nova Scotia's climate change plan.^[12]^[13] During his time in cabinet, Parent was also responsible for Part II of the Gambling Control Act, the Workers' Compensation Act (except Part II) and the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act.

Parent was defeated in the 2009 provincial election, with 36.08% of the vote in his riding.^[14]^[15]^[16]

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Kings—Hants
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Kody Blois	20,192	44.92	+1.61	$80,518.90
	Conservative	Mark Parent	13,234	29.44	+4.66	$54,740.13
	New Democratic	Stephen Schneider	8,645	19.23	+2.05	$13,834.66
	People's	Steven Ford	1,945	4.33	+2.69	$0.00
	Green	Sheila G. Richardson	940	2.09	-10.46	$4,644.16
Total valid votes/expense limit			44,956	100.00	–	$107,126.60
Total rejected ballots			251
Turnout			45,207	63.42	-5.34
Registered voters			71,285
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.53
Source: Elections Canada^[17]

Provincial

2009 Nova Scotia general election^[18]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
New Democrat	Jim Morton	3,535	41.43
Progressive Conservative	Mark Parent	3,079	36.08
Liberal	Shirley Fisher	1,541	18.06
Green	Anna-Maria Galante-Ward	378	4.43	–

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Parent	4153	50.07
	New Democrat	Jim Morton	2190	26.40
	Liberal	Madonna Spinazola	1757	21.18
	Green	Chris Alders	195	2.35

2003 Nova Scotia general election
	Candidate	Votes	%
Progressive Conservative	Mark Parent	4063	50.2
New Democrat	Jim Morton	2340	29.91
Liberal	Michael Landry	1533	18.94
Marijuana	Ben "Budman" Friesen	157	1.94

1999 Nova Scotia general election
	Candidate	Votes	%
Progressive Conservative	Mark Parent	4321	49.05
New Democrat	Neil H. McNeil	2513	28.53
Liberal	Peter Hill	1975	22.42

Bibliography

Parent, Mark (1998). Spiritscapes. Northstone. ISBN 3-540-63293-X.
Parent, Mark (17 October 2009). "Health care system must change or collapse". The Chronicle Herald. Archived from the original on 20 November 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.

References

^ "Parent Tory choice in Kings North". The Chronicle Herald. 30 June 1999. Archived from the original on 24 January 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
^ "Election Returns, 1999 (Kings North)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^ "Parent contemplates quitting". CBC. 2 November 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "Teacher layoffs prompt debate in legislature". CBC. 25 April 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "MLA's "just bums in chairs," says politician". CBC. 1 December 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "Election Returns, 2003 (Kings North)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^ "Election Returns, 2006 (Kings North)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^ "Premier Announces New Cabinet Lineup". NS Government News Release. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
^ "MacDonald's expanded cabinet has 3 rookies". CBC. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "Government Introduces New Department of Labour and Workforce Development". NS Government News Release. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
^ "Cabinet shuffled". Canadian Press. 8 January 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "Morse's environmental shakeup". The Coast. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
^ "Provincial cabinet gets long-awaited shuffle". Metro. 7 January 2009. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
^ "More than half of Tory cabinet defeated". CBC. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "Nova Scotia Votes - Kings North". CBC. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
^ "Election Returns, 2009 (Kings North)" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^ "September 20, 2021 General Election Election Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)