Senator Wade Mark
UNC
Opposition Senator
Mr. Wade Mark was elected Speaker of the House of the 10th Republican Parliament on Friday June 18, 2010. As Speaker of the House Mr. Mark served as Joint President of the Trinidad and Tobago Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and also served as Regional Chairman (Caribbean, American and Atlantic Region) of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). Mr. Mark first entered Parliament during the 3rd Republican Parliament as an Opposition Senator in 1990 and has served as a Senator in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th Parliaments, making him one of the longest serving Senators in the history of Trinidad and Tobago (1990-2010 and 2015-). Mr. Mark served as Minister of Public Administration and Information in the 5th Parliament and also served as Vice-President of the Senate in the 6th Republican Parliament. He has chaired several Parliamentary Committees including the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC), and the Joint Select Committee appointed to inquire into the operations, administration and management of Ministries, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises. Additionally he served as a Member of several Parliamentary Committees throughout his Parliamentary tenure. From 2002 to 2010, Mr. Mark also served as Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate. As the Education and Research Officer for the Bank and General Workers Union from 1983-2000, Mr. Mark was responsible for the design, implementation and facilitation of worker education programmes, and served as editor of the Union’s newsletter, Labour Insight. He was also a trustee of the Trinidad and Tobago Labour Congress, and Assistant Secretary of the National Trade Union Centre. In 1979 Mr. Mark attained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Politics from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration (EMBA). He is a member of the Economics Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), and the Global Organization for Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC). Mr. Mark has published a mimeograph on the History and Development of the Trade Union Movement in Trinidad and Tobago (1838-1985), and has prepared and coordinated a number of working papers on globalization, regional integration and the rights of workers for and on behalf of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Mr. Mark is involved in a number of charitable ventures and is also a Patron of the Marabella Family Crisis Centre.