Mark Parent (born August 25, 1954) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

clergyman, author, academic, and former politician in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Parent is the son of

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

missionaries Hazen Coles Parent and Hazel Mildred Anderson. Parent was raised in Bolivia,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

before returning to Canada for post secondary studies. He holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, a Master of Divinity from

Acadia Divinity College The Acadia Divinity College (ADC) is Baptist theological institute located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada. It is governed by a board of trustees with members appointed by the Conv ...

, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. 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 Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

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

In 1997, Parent volunteered as the Policy Chair for the

Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia (formerly Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia), is a moderate political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically as ...

. In 1999 Parent successfully ran for the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding of

Kings North Kings North is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The electoral district was formed through redistribution in 1956. It was previously part of the district of Kin ...

. He was elected in the 1999 provincial election with 49.05% of the vote. As a legislator, Parent became known for speaking frankly both in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

and to the media, and expressed dissatisfaction with how the legislature conducted its business. Parent was re-elected in the 2003 provincial election with 50.2%. In the 2006 election, Parent was re-elected with 50.07%. In 2006 Parent was appointed to the

Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Cabinet is sim ...

where he served as Minister of Environment and Labour. 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. Parent served as Minister for those portfolios until January 2009, when he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, just days before he was to release Nova Scotia's

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

plan. 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.

Electoral record

Federal

Provincial

, - , New Democrat , Jim Morton , align="right", 3,535 , align="right", 41.43 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Mark Parent , align="right", 3,079 , align="right", 36.08 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Shirley Fisher , align="right", 1,541 , align="right", 18.06 , align="right", , - , Progressive Conservative , Mark Parent , align="right", 4153 , align="right", 50.07 , - , New Democrat , Jim Morton , align="right", 2190 , align="right", 26.40 , - , Liberal , Madonna Spinazola , align="right", 1757 , align="right", 21.18 , - , Progressive Conservative , Mark Parent , align="right", 4063 , align="right", 50.2 , align="right", , - , New Democrat , Jim Morton , align="right", 2340 , align="right", 29.91 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Michael Landry , align="right", 1533 , align="right", 18.94 , align="right", , - , - , Progressive Conservative , Mark Parent , align="right", 4321 , align="right", 49.05 , align="right", , - , New Democrat , Neil H. McNeil , align="right", 2513 , align="right", 28.53 , align="right", , - , Liberal , Peter Hill , align="right", 1975 , align="right", 22.42 , align="right",

Bibliography

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References

External links

Mark Parent's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Mark 1954 births Living people Canadian non-fiction writers Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Writers from Nova Scotia People from Kings County, Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia York University alumni Acadia University alumni McGill University alumni Academic staff of Mount Allison University 21st-century Canadian politicians