In November of 2000, Mark Eyking, a resident of Millville, N.S., was first elected Member of Parliament for the Federal Riding of Sydney-Victoria.

Prior to entering politics, Mark, along with his wife Pam, operated a successful vegetable farm for several years. They were recipients of the Cape Breton Business Excellence Award and Outstanding Young Farmers of Nova Scotia Award. Mark also worked on international agricultural projects, implementing sustainable farming practices in Central America.

Mr. Eyking served on various committees including, International Trade, Foreign Affairs, and Agricultural and Agri-food.

He was sworn into the Privy Council in 2003 and was given the responsibility of Agriculture and Agri Food. In 2004 Mr. Eyking was asked by Prime Minister Paul Martin to be responsible for the emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and Eastern European Countries.

Some of Mr. Eyking’s most important accomplishments were the securing of $400 million in federal and provincial funding to clean up the Sydney tar ponds and coke site, along with $100 million to clean up Cape Breton’s old coal mine sites. Mr. Eyking has also successfully lobbied the federal government to help fund the dredging of Sydney Harbour, which has since been completed.

Most recently Mr. Eyking was appointed Agriculture Critic by Justin Trudeau.

In the riding, Mr. Eykings’s office deals with thousands of constituency cases each year and he is very proud of the work his staff does in helping his constituents.

In May 2011, Mr. Eyking won his fifth election as Member of Parliament for Sydney-Victoria.

Born in 1960, Mark is the fifth of ten children in the family of Dutch Immigrants John and Jean Eyking of Millville.

He is a graduate of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro. Mark and his wife Pam have four children and two grandchildren.