Mark Eyking PC (born August 30, 1960) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Sydney—Victoria from 2000 to 2019 as a member of the Liberal Party.

Early life and education

Eyking was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia. His parents, born in Beverwijk (father) and Moergestel (mother), emigrated from the Netherlands to Canada in 1952. Not being able to travel to their city of preference Vancouver due to a lack of funds, they chose to start a business in olericulture in Sydney, where Eyking was born eight years later. Eyking was educated at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, where he obtained his Agriculture Business Diploma. Now a resident of Millville, Nova Scotia, Eyking is a farmer by career.

Political career

On October 29, 2000, Eyking won the Liberal nomination in the Sydney—Victoria riding for the 2000 federal election. On November 27, 2000, he defeated New Democrat incumbent Peter Mancini by over 5,000 votes to win a seat in the House of Commons. Eyking was re-elected in the 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2015 federal elections. In Paul Martin's government, he served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food with special emphasis on Agri-Food (2003–2004) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade with special emphasis on Emerging Markets (2004–2006).

He served as the chair of the Standing Committee on International Trade during the 42nd Canadian Parliament. Eyking announced on February 13, 2019 that he wouldn't run for re-election in 2019.

Personal life

His wife Pam represented the riding of Victoria-The Lakes as a Liberal MLA in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2013 to 2017.

Electoral record

vte2015 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMark Eyking29,99573.20+33.29
New DemocraticMonika Dutt5,35113.06–5.97$32,027.50
ConservativeJohn Douglas Chiasson4,36010.64–27.21$41,720.11
GreenMatthew Cavanaugh1,0262.50–0.71
LibertarianWayne James Hiscock2420.59
Total valid votes/expense limit40,974100.00$195,473.50
Total rejected ballots2360.57
Turnout41,21068.96
Eligible voters59,761
Liberal holdSwing+19.63
Source: Elections Canada
vte2011 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMark Eyking14,78839.91-9.49$67,454.53
ConservativeCecil Clarke14,02337.85+17.23$77,334.98
New DemocraticKathy MacLeod7,04919.02-5.42$17,238.77
GreenChris Milburn1,1913.21-2.33$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit37,051100.0$80,666.28
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots2790.75+0.03
Turnout37,33061.48+4.07
Eligible voters60,719
Liberal holdSwing-13.36
Sources:
vte2008 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMark Eyking17,30349.40-0.48$60,561.52
New DemocraticWayne McKay8,55924.44-4.06$15,485.05
ConservativeKristen Rudderham7,22320.62+2.28$60,092.18
GreenCollin Harker1,9415.54+2.25$1,966.54
Total valid votes/expense limit35,026100.0$78,337
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots2540.72+0.16
Turnout35,28057.41-5.89
Eligible voters61,448
Liberal holdSwing+1.79
vte2006 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMark Eyking20,27749.88-2.25$47,473.95
New DemocraticJohn Hugh Edwards11,58728.50+0.79$28,987.58
ConservativeHowie MacDonald7,45518.34+2.47$26,033.71
GreenChris Milburn1,3363.29+0.99$537.60
Total valid votes/expense limit40,655100.0$73,953
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots2270.56-0.23
Turnout40,88263.30+2.72
Eligible voters64,589
Liberal holdSwing-1.52
vte2004 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMark Eyking19,37252.13+2.14$51,343.95
New DemocraticJohn Hugh Edwards10,29827.71-8.50$24,957.69
ConservativeHowie MacDonald5,89715.87+2.08$48,515.46
GreenChris Milburn8552.30$580.41
MarijuanaCathy Thériault4741.28none listed
IndependentB. Chris Gallant2640.71$165.54
Total valid votes/expense limit37,160100.0$71,187
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots2970.79
Turnout37,45760.58
Eligible voters61,826
Liberal notional holdSwing+5.32
Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.
vte2000 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
LiberalMark Eyking19,38849.8+23.5
New DemocraticPeter Mancini14,21636.5-14.6
Progressive ConservativeAnna Curtis-Steele3,7799.7-12.9
AllianceRod A.M. Farrell1,5283.9
Total valid votes38,911100.0

External links