Mark Allan Robinson
Mark Allan Robinson (born January 20th, 1975 in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada) was the proponent of the first successful campaign to remove an elected politician from public office in Canadian history by use of a recall petition.
Robinson had been active politically since the age of 18, sitting on various local government committees and boards of directors for non-profit organizations.
In the spring of 1998, Parksville-Qualicum Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Paul Reitsma had been caught by Cam Purdy, editor of local Parksville newspaper, Parksville/Qualicum Beach Morning Sun, writing letters to the editor for years praising himself and signing them under fabricated names.
Robinson organized over 300 volunteers in the riding of Parksville-Qualicum (Vancouver Island), which included the city of Parksville, the town of Qualicum Beach, the northern half of the city of Nanaimo, and smaller communities such as Nanoose Bay and Coombs/Errington.
Going door-to-door, volunteers amassed several thousand signatures above what was legally required to force Reitsma out of office between the offical campaign period of April 15th to June 15th.
On June 15th, 1998, Mark Robinson with volunteer Rev. Bill Robinson (no relation) presented the petition to Jennifer Miller of Elections BC.
The signatures were verified between the dates of June 15th to June 23rd, with a count of over 25,000 (just over 14,000 required), and an announcement was to be made that the recall petition had enough signatures to force a recall.
On June 23rd, 1998, Paul Reitsma resigned his seat in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly after being tipped-off that the campaign had enough signatures to remove the politician from office.
Robinson worked as a detective for Island Loss Prevention under Lantzville town councillor Warren Griffen before becoming an English teacher. He was also employed as a Financial Adviser for London Life/Freedom 55 before looking abroad for a career.
Robinson is currently in his second year in China working at Panjin's Oriental Foreign Language Institute as a foreign expert and speaks several languages.
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