Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations

Gary Mar was elected to his fourth term as Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary-Mackay on November 22, 2004. He was appointed Minister of Community Development on November 25, a position he held until April, 2006, when he became Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations. In addition to his duties as an MLA and Minister, Mr. Mar also serves as a member of the Agenda and Priorities Committee and is the Vice-chair of the Standing Policy Committee on Economic Development and Finance. During the 25th Legislature, he served as a member of both the Agenda and Priorities Committee and the Standing Policy Committee on Health and Community Living.

Since he was first elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1993, Mr. Mar has served as Minister of Health and Wellness, Minister of Community Development, Minister of Education and Minister of Environment.

• As Minister of Community Development, Mr. Mar implemented the Alberta Seniors’ Benefit, which directs government funding to senior citizens with financial need.
  
  
• As Minister of Education, he introduced First Things First…Our Children, an initiative that focused on schoolchildren of all ages. It made a commitment to ensure young children can read well by grade 3. It also focused on high standards for junior and senior high school students, keeping students in school and making sure they have the skills they need when they graduate.
  
  
• As Minister of Environment, Mr. Mar served as co-chair of Climate Change Central, the public/private partnership formed in response to the international agreement on climate change. He also took action because of the public interest and formed a new provincial park in the Spray Valley to protect this mountainous part of Kananaskis Country.

Gary G. Mar was born in Calgary on July 26, 1962. He obtained his bachelor of commerce (Finance) at the University of Calgary in 1984 and his bachelor of laws at the University of Alberta in 1987.

From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Mar practised civil and criminal law with MacKimmie Matthews, Barristers and Solicitors, Calgary. Between 1990 and 1992, he practised corporate, commercial, and real estate law with Code Hunter, Barristers and Solicitors, Calgary. Mr. Mar subsequently operated his own general law practice in Calgary and contributed to the Annotated Rules of Court. Mr. Mar was appointed Queen’s Counsell in 1994.

Mr. Mar is an active member of the Chinese community in Calgary. He served as director of the Sien Lok Society from 1987 to 1993, and as vice-president of the Chinatown Development Foundation from 1990 to 1993. The Sien Lok Society is a trustee of Sien Lok Park and a promoter of Chinese culture, while the Chinatown Development Foundation operates an 88-unit low-income housing facility. He has served as a volunteer with Calgary Legal Guidance, which provides legal services to low-income persons.

Mr. Mar and his wife, Nancy, have three children: Lauren, Jared, and Mackenzie.

April 7, 2006