Politics

Since at least the 1980s, Filipinos have shown increasing interest in Canadian political life at the local, provincial, and federal levels. During their first years in this country, they were preoccupied with the need to establish a stable economic base for themselves and their families. This situation is gradually changing as they turn their attention to the political sphere. The community in Winnipeg has been a leader in political activity at both the provincial and the federal levels. The first Filipino to join a provincial legislature in Canada was Dr Conrado Santos, who was elected to the Manitoba assembly in 1981 for the New Democratic Party. Dr Rey D. Pagtakhan, a Liberal from Manitoba, became the first Filipino member of Parliament in 1988; he was re-elected five years later. In Ontario, Alex Chiu, a Filipino Canadian of Chinese descent, has served as a councillor in Markham.

Political cleavage within the community in Canada has usually been precipitated by events in the home country. It may be short-lived or protracted depending upon the outcome there. For example, with the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, Filipino Canadians were polarized into camps, one pro-Marcos, another opposed to the president, and the third a non-aligned group. The Canadian Philippine Friendship Society in Toronto changed its name first to the Anti-Martial Law Alliance, then to the Coalition against Marcos Dictatorship, and finally to the Campaign for Democracy and Independence. Some staff in the Philippine consulate were then considered to be pro-Marcos. After the assassination of former senator Benigno Aquino and the election of his widow, Corazon Aquino, as president, Filipino Canadians kept close watch on the political scene at home. Referring to the bloodless revolution that eventually overturned the Marcos government, many in the community declared that never in their lives had they been prouder to be Filipinos.