By Tan Mei Xi
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To Vancouver-Mount Pleasant NDP incumbent Melanie Mark, the increases in support to youth in foster care have been some of the largest highlights of her term in office.

She noted that during her tenure, the government introduced a tuition waiver program that granted free post-secondary tuition to youth under 27 years of age with 24 months cumulatively in foster care.

However, Mark acknowledged that the Agreements with Young Adults (AYA) program, the primary mechanism of government support for youth with experience in foster care, needs to be reviewed.

"[Having worked] closely with Minister Conroy [the Minister of Child and Family Development], she is fully aware that we need to make [AYA] more open and to do a review of AYA because it hasn't been the most flexible program."

When asked what she would say to advocates for children in foster care pushing for expanded AYA eligibility criteria, Mark called for "determination" and a resolve to "never give up".

"I'm turning 45 this week and I started advocating when I was 20 for some of these changes," said Mark. "Tell them not to give up!"

When asked about the BC NDP's commitment to reconciliation, given its greenlighting of Site C and the party's support of RCMP apprehension of Wetʼsuwetʼen protestors, Mark noted that the BC NDP's track record on reconciliation is significant.

"We all voted for the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. What other province has that?"

"We're acknowledging that we have to do better. But to say that we're going to fix everything overnight? It didn't get created overnight."

Mark is the first First Nations woman to serve as a BC MLA and a Cabinet minister.