Fil-Cans Corpuz, Bucao Resume Campaigns for Council

 
By José Victor ‘Jayvee’ Salameña
Toronto-Canada
August 21, 2018
 


To say that it has been a hectic few weeks for the Toronto City Council elections is an understatement. In late July, newly elected Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that his governing Progressive Conservatives will introduce and enact legislation that slashes the size of Toronto city council from 47 wards to 25 wards. On July 30, 2018, the legislation – Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, 2018 was introduced, and with a majority, the Progressive Conservatives passed the bill on August 14. As of the time of publishing, the current mayor of Toronto, John Tory, and the current members of City Council have announced that they will take legal action to combat this legislation.In light of these new developments, the campaign of Randy Bucao announced on July 30 through his campaign’s Facebook page that his campaign was temporarily suspended. Mr. Bucao waited until Bill 5 went into effect on August 14 to make his decision, and with much encouragement from his supporters, decided to run again for the new ward of Scarborough Centre, as announced on his campaign’s Facebook page. He acknowledged that a bigger ward will be a bigger challenge. He posted: “In this new Ward as Riding size; a Toronto City Councilor is exactly the same constituents like the MPP and MP. The only big difference is that; a Councilor campaign is by itself or alone only and not with the Party.”

Paulina Corpuz , too, had to put much though on whether to continue her campaign. However, on August 17, days after Bill 5 became official, she posted on her campaign’s Facebook page: “I am running. Yes, I am running. I am the alternative - a racialized woman, mother, servant leader, community advocate/organizer, business analyst/change management professional, life skills trainer. TV host/producer and writer and aspiring poet.  I am the alternative for a stronger representation of Scarborough Southwest at the City Council. I have what it takes - accountability, compassion and experience.”

These sudden turns of events alleviated the worries of the many Filipino-Canadians who wanted to see Fil-Can representation into municipal government and were looking closely and volunteering for the campaigns of these two Filipino-Canadians running for Toronto City Council. The Filipino-Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area were sadly shut out of representation in Provincial Parliament, as all of our candidates lost either in the nomination elections, or the general elections, or their campaigns or nominations suspended by their respective party.

The less number of wards would also mean that the wards will be bigger in size, and that would mean that any campaign would have to canvass a larger area to get name recognition, which would also mean that more flyers and lawn signs would be needed, which would require more campaign funds. The fact that these changes happened mid-campaign, when many candidates for councilor have already started their campaigning, has already discouraged many candidates, and even some incumbents, from continuing their campaigns. However, even this drastic change was not enough to deter the determination of Randy Bucao and Paulina Corpuz in their quest for Filipino-Canadian representation in the governance of Canada’s largest city, which is also the home of over 246,000 Filipinos.

While the task might be harder, there is still hope for these Fil-Can candidates. In municipal elections, permanent residents can also vote, therefore many Filipinos that are still awaiting Canadian citizenship are still eligible in municipal elections. The demographics of the new wards also favor Filipino-Canadian candidates. In the 2014 Municipal Election, some of the wards had around 8 to 10 candidates, which could dilute the strength of ethnic groups larger than the Fil-Can community. In the riding of Scarborough Centre, where Randy Bucao is running, Filipinos number 14,450, according to 2016 Census data. In the riding of Scarborough Southwest, where Paulina Corpuz is running, Filipinos number 10,315, according to 2016 Census data.

Nonetheless, both candidates would be very appreciative if their fellow kabayans help their respective campaigns. For information on how to volunteer, please visit www.voterandybucao.ca for Randy Bucao’s campaign, and www.paulinacorpuz.com for Paulina Corpuz’s campaign.