Association of Filipino Conservatives of Canada (AFCC) Hold First Major Event

By Jose Victor Salamena
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
April 30, 2018




Newly Minted Fil-Can Organization Aims to Get More Filipinos Involved in All Levels of Canadian Governance.


A new organization, the Association of Filipino Conservatives of Canada, has held its first major event since being formed earlier this year. Their first major event featured Michelle Rempel, the Official Opposition Critic for Immigration, and was attended as well by two candidates for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. The event was attended by many involved in Toronto’s Filipino-Canadian community, as well as members of the Pakistani Christian community, and was kindly hosted by the Jesus is Lord Cornerstone Church in Christie Street in Downtown Toronto.



The event served three main purposes:

(1) to introduce the AFCC and its main members to the Filipino-Canadian community and to the representatives of the Federal Conservative Party of Canada and the Provincial Ontario PC Party, (2) to encourage and embolden the Fil-Can community to get involved in the grassroots levels of the Federal and Provincial Conservative Parties, and to run for future nominations, and (3) to allow the Filipino community to voice out its concerns about the Federal and Provincial Conservative parties.

Beginning remarks made by Julius Tiangson, the AFCC Chairperson of the Steering Committee, spoke of the underutilized voting power that the Filipino-Canadian community now wields, but that the community hasn’t fully used to voice out its concerns or more importantly, directly affect government policy, especially as it pertains to immigration policy. Mr. Tiangson was also adamantly clear that while AFCC exists to foster a relationship between the Fil-Can community and the Conservative Parties, AFCC will be an independent organization that will not serve as an extension of the interests of any political party, but will serve the Fil-Can community and its needs first and foremost.

The community was also reminded that, while there are 350,000 Filipinos in Ontario, as of the day of the event, there is no Filipino representation in all three levels of Canadian governance – in Federal Parliament or Provincial Legislatures, or in the municipal level in Ontario. The situation will hopefully change soon, Mr. Tiangson argued to the community, and he expressed his sincere hope and prediction that in a decade, a Filipino or Filipina will run for the leadership of a Provincial Conservative or centre-right party, or the leadership of the Federal Conservative Party of Canada, a remark that garnered tremendous applause from the audience.

The floor was then opened for remarks by Michelle Rempel, who gave updates on the Conservative Party’s points of view with current events pertaining to immigration. Ms. Rempel took the opportunity to re-iterate the Conservative Party’s commitment to encourage and foster immigration through legal means, and to continue to keep Canada’s borders open to refugees, especially those fleeing religious and ethnic persecution.



An open forum also yielded questions and concerns from the Fil-Can community. The community also took this opportunity to express its support Mr. Antonio Villarin, who was in attendance with his wife, and was accompanied by some close to his campaign. Although he did not get the nomination, Mr. Villarin was nonetheless recognized and openly lauded for his valiant effort in Scarborough Centre.

Regarding the upcoming Ontario Provincial Elections, Ms. Michelle Rempel echoed the sentiments expressed by her fellow Albertan Jason Kenney to the whole Ontario PC Party in their leadership convention: that Ontario’s conservatives (including the Fil-Can conservatives represented in the room) must form a united front to defeat the Ontario Liberals. This sentiment was met in agreement by the two Ontario PC candidates in attendance: Robin Martin, the PC Candidate for the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence, and Nina Tangri, the PC Candidate for the riding of Mississauga-Streetsville.

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