TORONTO – The Filipino Canadian Political Association has written to all federal party leaders and party presidents, calling on them to make a real and intentional effort to recruit Filipino-Canadians as official party candidates for the upcoming federal election.
“Federal political parties have made uneven efforts to recruit underrepresented voices, particularly Filipino-Canadians, who have not held a seat in the House of Commons for 17 years and counting,” said Grant Gonzales, a board member of the Filipino Canadian Political Association.
“Filipinos are a rapidly growing ethnic group in Canada. The Philippines is consistently among the top three source countries for permanent residents admitted annually, and the Filipino-Canadian population is approaching one million,” said Gonzales.
The first and only Filipino-Canadian Member of Parliament was Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, who served from 1988-2004, representing a Winnipeg-area riding. With exception to Julius Tiangson, 2020 by-election candidate for the Conservatives in York Centre, there are few recent examples of Filipino-Canadian federal candidates running in winnable ridings.
“The absence of Filipino-Canadians sitting in the House of Commons, across all the federal parties, is alarming. We are calling on the federal parties to recruit Filipino-Canadians to run in winnable ridings and finally address this gap in representation,” concluded Gonzales.
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About the Filipino Canadian Political Association
The Filipino Canadian Political Association is a new non-profit, cross-partisan, grassroots organization working toward stronger Filipino-Canadian representation in elected offices at all levels of government.