April 16, 2025 - In what is touted to be the shortest election period in Canadian political history, at least seven Canadian Filipinos have placed their names in the hat for a seat in Canada’s House of Commons.
Incumbent Rechie Valdez is seeking re-election as Member of Parliament representing the Mississauga-Streetville riding in Ontario. Valdez is the first Canadian Filipina to have secured a spot in the Parliament in 2021 and was subsequently appointed Minister of Small Business in the Trudeau Cabinet. Following the resignation of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, interim Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Valdez as Chief Government Whip.
During her term, Valdez sat as member of various parliamentary committees such as the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and chaired the Canada-Philippines Parliamentary Friendship Group. As Minister of Small Business, Valdez went on an official mission to the Philippines in 2024 to engage in bilateral economic ties between Canada and the Philippines.
While Valdez is the lone Canadian Filipino on the Liberal Party ticket, there are three who are running under the Conservative Party (CP): Rachel Punzalan (Winnipeg North), Lita Cabal (Vancouver East) and Margie Ramos (Ahuntsic-Cartierville). Running under the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) are Jessica Bailon (Winnipeg North) and Desiderio Magtanggol Reyes (Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby). The National Democratic Party’s (NDP) lone Canadian Filipino candidate is Benjamin Abis (Etobicoke North).
According to the 2021 Census, the Winnipeg North riding has a 34 percent Canadian Filipino population. This riding located in the province of Manitoba has two Canadian Filipino candidates in CP’s Punzalan and PPC’s Bailon vying to represent its constituency.
Punzalan earned her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law in the Philippines before migrating to Canada in 2008. She was called to the bar in 2013 and in 2016, opened her own law firm Punzalan Law in Winnipeg. Punzalan’s biography on the party’s website notes her active participation in charities over the years.
CP candidate for Vancouver East in British Columbia Lita Cabal immigrated to Canada in 2003 and worked as database programmer for the Canadian Cancer Society - BC & Yukon Division. A highlight of her volunteer initiatives is the Food Feeding Program in the Philippines established by her family in 2022.
CP candidate for Ahuntsic-Cartierville in Quebec Margie Ramos moved to Canada at the age of ten. Ramos is an entrepreneur, having founded a skincare line out of her Ahuntsic kitchen. She is running against incumbent Melanie Joly of the Liberal Party.
PPC’s Desiderio Magtanggol Reyes is running against former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson in the Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby riding in BC.
NDP’s Benjamin Abis of Etobicoke in Ontario is a retired correctional officer at theToronto South Detention Centre. For his work in public service, Abis was given recognition by the Toronto Police Service and Toronto Fire Services.
About the Author
Rachel Ramos-Reid started writing for magazines and newspapers when she was still a junior at the University of the Philippines’ Communication degree program majoring in Journalism. She continued to write in a public relations/corporate communications capacity in various private and government offices until moving out of the country in 1997 to work as Programme Officer for the arts and culture branch of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-SPAFA) in Bangkok, Thailand. At the end of her term, Rachel found herself immigrating to Canada in the year 2000 and again searching for new beginnings.
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