By Eleanor R. Laquian
There is much jubilation and anticipation in the Filipino community following the October 19, 2024 provincial election in B.C.
Community members are thrilled to see Mable Elmore win a resounding victory in her re-election campaign to represent Vancouver-Kensington as the riding’s Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
As the first and only MLA in B.C. of Filipino heritage, Elmore has been a source of pride and inspiration for many.
Along with the euphoria over Elmore’s re-election, there is also a lot of expectation in the community.
They are hopeful that this time around, Elmore will be given a well-earned appointment in the cabinet of the incoming B.C. NDP government of David Eby.
Elmore’s 15 years of public service
With her re-election, Elmore has secured a fifth term, making her one of the most experienced members of the B.C. NDP caucus.
She was first elected in 2009 and has served on both opposition and government aisles for 15 years and counting.
Elmore served as the Official Opposition spokesperson for ICBC, and deputy spokesperson for Finance.
In government, she served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors Services and Long Term Care, and Parliamentary Secretary for Poverty Reduction.
Elmore has shown that she can do the work. To recall, under the B.C. Liberal government, the privatization of healthcare workers led to the largest mass layoff of women in B.C.’s history, many of whom were racialized, with a significant number from the Filipino community. As Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors Services and Long-Term Care, Elmore played a pivotal role in negotiating the repatriation of thousands of healthcare workers back into the public sector.
This shift provided healthcare workers with essential job protection, improved wages, benefits, and pensions, which were instrumental to B.C.’s strong response to the COVID-19 pandemic—a success the Hospital Employees’ Union highlights as leading Canada. This outcome underscores a clear link between demographic representation and the effectiveness of policies for communities most impacted.
Before the legislative assembly was dissolved on September 21, 2024 to mark the start of the year’s provincial election campaign, Elmore was Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives.
The B.C. NDP has not been responsive to the aspirations of Filipinos in reflecting the community in its cabinet.
When the party won government in 2017, the leadership bypassed Elmore for a cabinet posting, much to the disappointment of the Filipino community.
Sadly, the B.C. NDP chose to remain tone-deaf when it got a second chance to govern after the 2020 provincial election.
This despite an open call by the community for the party to consider Elmore for cabinet.
Hope and expectation of the community for Elmore
It may be recalled that representatives of 55 Filipino organizations across the province released a public letter urging then premier-elect John Horgan to pick Elmore.
“With her recent re-election to a 4th term, along with your party’s return to government with an overwhelming majority, now is the time to recognize the importance of the Filipino community by appointing Ms. Elmore to a leadership position,” the November 20, 2020 letter stated.
Also, “For your Cabinet to genuinely reflect the diversity of the people it serves it needs to include Ms. Elmore.”
The community also made known how it will regard a snub of Elmore.
“Anything less amounts to the continued marginalization of our community and is an affront to the dedication and service of Filipinos to BC over the years,” the letter declared.
Hence, “Your party has the unique opportunity to elevate the Filipino community and we hope you will consider doing so by inviting Ms. Elmore to your Cabinet.”
Alas, the community was ignored.
With Elmore shunted to the side, one community member posted on social media that this was a “slap in the face”.
“Mable deserves better,” Bert Quibuyen also stated publicly.
When Horgan stepped down and Eby assumed the premiership, the community was again let down when Elmore was left out in appointments to cabinet.
With the B.C. NDP forming government for the third time in a row in the wake of the October 19, 2024 election, the community deserves better with the elevation of Elmore to cabinet.
To borrow from the community’s 2020 letter, “anything less amounts to the continued marginalization of our community and is an affront to the dedication and service of Filipinos”.
Why Elmore deserves a cabinet post
With a million Filipinos all over Canada now, they feel that Filipinos should have a stronger voice in government. But today, they have only one Member of Parliament and one Senator.
The 2016 Census noted that Canadians with Filipino heritage comprise more than two percent of the population. There are a total of 338 seats for Members of Parliament and two percent of that, if Filipinos were to be proportionately represented in the federal government would be at least six.
In 2021, the Filipinos in Canada numbered 957,355 or 2.58 percent of total population. Thus 2.58 percent of seats in Parliament is 8.7. So they should have at least eight Filipino Members of Parliament today, but they have only. So obviously, Filipinos are underrepresented in national politics.
Filipinos are not doing any better in the B.C. provincial government, where they have only one MLA. The almost 200,000-strong Filipino community in B.C. is now hopeful that with Elmore’s landslide victory in the 2024 election, she will finally be recognized by the incoming government of David Eby for her 15 years of service as MLA on immigration, social justice and workers’ rights, and elevate her to a cabinet post.
