Latest news with #Filipino-Canadians
GMA Network
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Max Collins performs at Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show in Canada
Max Collins brought joy to global Pinoys in Toronto, Canada, where she performed at the 2025 Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show over the weekend. According to Aubrey Carampel's report in "Balitanghali" Tuesday, the Sparkle star performed to over 5,000 Filipinos, Filipino-Canadians, and tourists at the event. The 2025 Pinoy Fiesta and Trade Show is a quadruple celebration of Philippine Independence Day; Filipino Heritage Month in Canada; the 15th anniversary of the event's organizer, the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation; and the 20th anniversary of GMA Pinoy TV, which is the event's media partner. Aside from song and dance performances, the fiesta featured games, cultural presentations, a pageant, a mass, and a Santacruzan. A giant Philippine flag was also waved during the event. "Gusto ko lang pasayahin ang pamilya ko, ang mga tao na nanonood sa amin, syempre sa GMA and para sa mga global Pinoys that watch GMA Pinoy TV. Gusto ko rin sila pasayahin, so 'yun talaga 'yung hinahanap ng puso ko," Max previously said in an "Unang Balita" report. —CDC, GMA Integrated News
Hamilton Spectator
14 hours ago
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Philippines Independence Day festivities in Fort St. John focus on family
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Filipino-Canadians gathered at Festival Plaza for a joyous, casual occasion to celebrate their heritage in what could be described as one word: family. Philippines Independence Day celebrations were held in Fort St. John on Sunday, June 8th, with dignitaries and residents – both Filipino and non-Filipino – enjoying an afternoon filled with dancing, songs and food. The gathering was organized by the North Peace Filipino-Canadian Association, also known as Bayanihan Fort St. John, during Filipino Heritage Month in June . The day celebrates the independence of the Philippines, an island country in Asia with 18 administrative regions and 7,641 islands, from Spanish colonial rule in 1898. Organizer Ovvian Castrillo-Hill told – and later the crowd who came out – just why this celebration is important, especially in the wake of the tragedy at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver. 'It's a little bit more casual,' said Castrillo-Hill. '[It's] a little bit more serene. This is about enjoying each other's company and the food. 'I think this period for the Filipino community, all over B.C. and Canada, is more of healing, is more of strengthening.' Mayor Lilia Hansen was there, alongside her husband Ron and councillors Gord Klassen, Sarah MacDougall, Jim Lequiere and Tony Zabinsky. Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy also joined the festivities later. Lunch was served to guests and entertainment followed. 'I want to give heartfelt gratitude for how you have become part of the community,' said Hansen. 'You make it stronger and having your celebrations and inviting us to be part of it, giving us a chance to get to know you and your culture more.' It was a family affair for Elvin Iglesias, who assisted in organizing the pot-luck lunch. He said being around his brethren made him feel 'happy.' 'We celebrate the things we do and we make,' said Iglesias. 'We also have exhibits [with] the art and sculptures. It's a day for us to gather all Filipinos as one.' It was also special for one family: Shandice and Jarred Castle, who were celebrating their anniversary. 'I'm not Filipino, but it's nice to be a part of this event,' said Jarred. 'It kind of makes our anniversary feel more meaningful.' Shandice agreed, saying: 'It means so much. It's such a family-oriented culture, and we love to be hospitable and share in celebration.' A dance troupe headed by Lorna Nyffler performed a regional dance, and singers including Elysia Cruz and Romina Tolentino sang both Filipino and popular songs, including a rendition of Beyonce's hit 'Halo'. Philippines Independence Day is celebrated annually by the island nation on June 12th. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Ottawa Filipino festival postponed in wake of Vancouver attack
A Filipino food and music festival that was slated to make its Ottawa debut later this month is now on hold. Fun Philippines Ottawa Food and Music Street Festival was meant to launch May 17 along a one-kilometre stretch of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill, but organizers decided to postpone the event days after a car-ramming attack at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver left eleven people dead and multiple others injured. "It made us pause a little bit to think about how we wanted to proceed," said Philip Mendoza, chair of the Philippine Legacy and Cultural Alliance, which has helped run the Toronto edition of the festival since 2019. This was to have been the inaugural event in Ottawa. When organizers initially raised the idea of postponing the festival, Mendoza said the response from vendors and partners was mixed. Ultimately, the team decided it was best to hold off. Their announcement came last Friday. We're still reeling from how to process it. - Aimee Beboso, Migrante Ottawa Mendoza said the "difficult decision" was based on two factors: Organizers wanted to make sure their festival was safe, and they wanted to find a way to honour the victims of the Vancouver attack. "Our community is still grieving," Mendoza said. "We wanted to make sure we do this right." 'Better to err on the side of caution' Some in the local Filipino community are disappointed that the festival has been postponed. Radio host Dan de Castro said he was looking forward to attending the event, and said the decision "saddens" him. "This is the first [time] ever that we're having this type of street festival," de Castro said. Despite his disappointment, de Castro said he understands why organizers are being cautious. Since the Vancouver attack, he's been hearing concerns about public safety from Filipino-Canadians. "While this [would] bring us together [to] enjoy our culture, our music, our food, there is still apprehension," he said. Aimee Beboso chairs Migrante Ottawa, the local branch of a Canadawide alliance that provides support for Filipino newcomers. Like de Castro, Beboso said she's disappointed the festival won't go ahead as planned, but said holding off is the right thing to do. "It's better to err on the side of caution … because if something happens, we can't go back, right?" Beboso said. "We don't have a time machine." Beboso also highlighted the need for sensitivity after the incident in Vancouver. "We're still reeling from how to process it," she said. Strengthening safety In the meantime, Mendoza said organizers will work with the city and Ottawa police to strengthen security so they can eventually hold the event in Ottawa. The goal is to find a balance between "feeling safe but not feeling caged," he said. Organizers have been considering whether they should fence off the event, install concrete barricades and increase police presence. Ryan Perrault, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services, said in a statement: "The City's Special Event Advisory Team remains ready to assist the organizers should they choose to move forward with the event in the future." Fun Philippines Ottawa hasn't set a new date for the festival yet. When it does happen, Mendoza said he hopes it brings people joy. "Filipinos like to celebrate, like to party, and that's the energy we want to bring," he said. "We want to show how we celebrate our community, and that's one way of honouring these folks as well."
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Inserts Himself Into Canada's Election And Liberals Can't Stop Saying Merci
At sundown, the night before Monday's federal election, Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal candidate Mark Carney paid his respects to the 11 killed in East Vancouver the night before, when a mentally ill man drove his SUV through a crowd of Filipino-Canadians celebrating Lapu-Lapu Day. He stood with his wife and British Columbia Premier David Ebey as the mourners sang 'Amazing Grace.' There was sorrow, but no one started blaming immigrants or some 'other' for the incomprehensible mayhem. A continent away, Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre said a prayer for the lost. All political parties toned down their rhetoric. There was no online culture war. No one disappeared into the judicial system. Twelve hours later, Donald Trump chimed in. Ha, you thought maybe he offered condolences. No, he prattled on the woefully named Truth Social, and not in the King's English. 'Good luck to the Great people of Canada. Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago … It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!' Across the 4,300 miles from Vancouver to Newfoundland that Trump thinks should make up a solitary U.S. state, Canadians drank their morning Tim Hortons and recited the words of the ancient poet Kendrick Lamar: 'We are not the same.' And then, remarkably, Canada returned the left-for-dead Liberals to power. They are not the same. FIRST, LET'S PAUSE for a moment and pay our respects to terrible opinions. 'Sadly, like Biden before him, it is too late. Trudeau's delay leaves his eventual successor with no time to separate themselves from his reign, and the Liberal Party is barreling toward a catastrophic wipeout in a spring or summer election.' —Me I was wrong, but so was all of Canada. I wrote Justin Trudeau's eulogy in early January. At that point, Canada was done with him. Trudeau's Liberal Party had unevenly staggered through a decade in office, a mishmash of achievements, such as expanded dental care and reconciliation with indigenous Canadians, and prat falls — a young Justin in Aladdin brown face, 20 percent of the population without a primary physician. The country was exhausted and ready for someone with new tricks. His inevitable successor was Pierre Poilievre, a Ted Cruz clone all the way down to his smarmy, oil-rich Alberta roots, subbing in for Teddy's smarmy, oil-rich Texas. Poilievre and the Canadian conservatives had borrowed some of the techniques of the MAGA movement, framing Trudeau as a Covid despot decreeing vaccine shots for everyone, including truckers moving goods across the country. Eventually, this resulted in the Convoy protests of early 2022 where a frozen Ottawa, the nation's capital, was invaded by hordes of 18-wheelers driven by anti-vax drivers who sought to win the hearts and minds of Ottawa by, uh, blasting their air horns non-stop for a week. It also marked the beginning of American meddling in Canada's politics. A significant portion of money raised for the truckers came from Americans who had also donated to Donald Trump. In a non-shocker, Trump, who labeled Black Lives Matters protesters thugs, offered a 'lot of respect' to the almost all white truckers. Poilievre was there in Ottawa flashing thumbs-ups and providing Timbits. Trudeau retaliated by using emergency measures to disperse the crowd and then froze the assets of protest leaders. The country was split over his tactics but were united in their exhaustion with the current state of play. Inflation was soaring and the Liberals seemed incapable of addressing a housing crisis that plagued the growing country. Sure, Poilievre gave off all the warmth of a terminal politico born without the empathy gene, and whose dubious political skills are indicated by the fact that Rob Ford, the mega-popular blowfish populist Ontario premier, recently swore he had never had an in-person conversation with the man who would be PM. No matter. As 2025 began, there was a certainty that Canada would join the rest of Western democracies in throwing out their pandemic government and replace it with Poilievre's Conservatives. Polls had the Conservatives up 25 points on New Year's Day. How done was the deal? My wife and son are both Canadian citizens so let me indulge in one hockey analogy. It was as if the chronically inept Toronto Maple Leafs led the Montreal Canadians 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals, and they were up 5-1 in the third period with the Canadians reduced to playing their third string off the street goalie. Yonge Street was already packed with fornicating drunkards. And then Trump was elected again. The Maple Leafs still have not won the Cup since 1967. WHEN TRUMP JOINS Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon, and George Wallace in an eternal game of blackjack on a casino paddle boat floating down the River Styx, historians will argue what role Donald Trump played in world events, quibbling whether he was the actual disease or just the loudest host as America moved from City on a Hill to Assholeistan. But there will be no argument about one historical event: Donald Trump single-handedly re-elected the Liberals to a fourth consecutive term in charge of The Great White North. Did it all start with a come-hither glance? Probably not, but let's go there. Trudeau and Trump enjoyed a semi-productive relationship during the game-show host's first term. Some say it soured at the 2019 G-7 Summit where a photo emerged of Melania Trump displaying a Big Gulp thirst for the handsome Justin. Rumor has it that this did not please Donald. Could this be true? Is all the world a stage, and we are all just in a simulation of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's Cleopatra? Probably not, but we are looking for a plausible reason to explain Trump's Canadian Toxicity Syndrome. It roared up back in December after Trump and Trudeau had dinner at Mar-A-Largo to discuss trade issues. That night, Trump posted: 'It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.' At first, much of Canada brushed it off with, 'Eh, that's Trump just being a dick.' But it never stopped. The president kept calling Trudeau 'governor' and talking about Canada being the '51st state.' It was as if a slow frat boy had gone to the repeat until funny school of comedy with North America's lamest joke. Oh, and he threatened 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods if Canada didn't stop its fentanyl trafficking. (In reality, all the fentanyl flowing from Canada could fit into the back of a single Kia Sportage with plenty of space for a couple of snowboards.) Charitably, America has some legitimate concerns with Canada, an affluent country that has never met its NATO responsibilities and which makes importing American dairy products near impossible. But this was the equivalent of a music critic bitching about Ringo's song on The White Album. It's not really the point when for 200 years Canada has been America's greatest ally co-managing a peaceful 3,000-mile border, and 3.2 million Canadians drop coins in Florida alone every winter. And what was the point? It all seemed a part of Trump's ketamine-induced internationalism, a strategy centered around pissing off all your allies and cozying up only to assholes like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban. Perhaps Trump theorized that if his bully-boy tactics worked with Senate Democrats it would work with Canada. Eventually, Trump moved the rhetoric and levied said tariffs on Canadian goods coming into America, Canada's primary trade partner. Car factories began laying off workers in plants outside of Toronto. That led in February to the lame-duck Trudeau saying the president lusted for Canada's natural resources. 'Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing,' he said. Things changed. The American national anthem was booed in Canadian arenas. Repeatedly. Those Canadian snowbirds? They came home early, and Canada-American border crossings dropped precipitously. As Trump snatch-and-grab immigration policies took center stage, Canadian universities urged their students not to visit America. The Liberal show was recast. Trudeau exited the scene and was replaced by Mark Carney, best known for serving as governor of the Bank of Canada guiding the nation through the 2008 banking crisis and, improbably, a term as governor of the Bank of England during the catastrophic economic aftermath of Brexit. Canada is going through another financial nightmare, so a financial miracle man had its appeal. Carney's first move was semi-brilliant politically. Poilievre and the Conservatives had been beating Trudeau's Liberals with a pillowcase full of oranges for years over their support of a carbon tax that was doubling the heating costs of Canadians. Carney's solution? He abolished the tax. (If this was Model UN, the smart kids would be shouting 'Canada is voting out of policy.') It made absolutely no sense in the context of Canada's larger climate policies, but it reset the game, something American Democrats could learn from. Poilievre had built his whole campaign around the carbon tax and Trudeau's unpopularity. Suddenly, both were gone, replaced by Trump looming over Canada like a giant inflatable rat at a miners strike. This was when Poilievre and the Conservative's decision to ape Trump's campaign with a 'Canada First' motto turned out to be too clever by half. And this was when many Canadian conservative websites stopped selling their 'Make Canada Great Again' caps. Poilievre had played himself. His rabble-rousing populism too closely echoed Trump's rabble-rousing populism in a country where American products were being stripped from shelves. Trump-Geppetto had made Poilievre Pinocchio a real boy and Canadians wanted to return him to the nearest Tire Warehouse. Trump and Poilievre both underestimated Canada. They both bought the cliche that saying 'sorry' is not Canada's hardest word, but a way of life. They assumed the country would bow and scrape before the president. They got it exactly wrong. I've spent much of the past seven years in Canada, and I have a theory about this. (Judge it warily, as it comes from someone who once wrote Canada was defended by two mighty oceans, forgetting the Arctic.) Yes, Canada can be just as dysfunctional as any Western democracy where capitalism is all about breaking through the ceiling and not the floor. There are homeless in the streets and the middle class is being squeezed into nothingness. What separates Canada from the United States is that there still is a floor and a semblance of fair play. Racial and sexual minorities fare better here. There still is universal health care. The safety net sags, but still holds the weakest of Canadians. Let me tell you a story. About six years ago, I was taken by ambulance to a Vancouver hospital with a severe but not life-threatening esophageal problem. I found myself lying on a gurney next to a handcuffed man who was bleeding. He was also wanted for a murder back in Ontario. The doctor looked at both of us and then treated the murderer first. That was the right thing to do. We both left the hospital owing zero dollars. That's a long way of saying Canada still has a sense of fairness. Nothing makes Canuck angry more than some jackass American thinking the rules of international decency do not apply to them. When that happens, yes, the elbows go up. Back to Ottawa, the clock is about to turn yesterday into tomorrow. Pierre Poilievre? Not only has he lost the election, but he's lost his own seat in Parliament. Meanwhile, in an Ottawa ballroom, Mark Carney hugs his wife, listens to Canadians chant his name and begins to speak. It is not a happy talk. 'As I've warned, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,' says Carney. 'But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never ever happen… The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that while not perfect has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades, is over. It's also our new reality. We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.' He pauses for a moment before continuing. 'We have to look out for ourselves and above all we have to take care of each other.' That's the Canadian Way. More from Rolling Stone 100 Actions That Define Trump's Horrifying First 100 Days in Office White House Loses It Over Report That Amazon Will Put Tariff Cost Next to Prices Donald Trump Somehow Made the Eagles' White House Visit About Taylor Swift Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
CBC
28-04-2025
- CBC
Alberta's Filipino community reacts to deadly Vancouver car ramming
Alberta's Filipino community is mourning the loss of 11 people who were killed at a block party in Vancouver Saturday night. Dozens more were hurt in the incident, when the 30-year-old suspect allegedly drove down a crowded street during a Lapu Lapu Day festival in the city. Police say the man who was charged following the incident has a history of interactions with police and mental health professionals. He is facing eight counts of second-degree murder. According to 2021 census data, about 22 per cent of Canada's Filipino population lives in Alberta. Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement posted to social media that Filipino-Canadians are kind, hard-working, and "cherished members of our communities right across Canada." "What happened last night at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver is truly incomprehensible," Smith said. "Albertans are heartbroken by this devastating loss of life and injuries reported. Vancouver and its Filipino community are firmly in our thoughts and prayers." The Philippine Consulate General in Calgary expressed its concern Sunday over the incident, saying it stands in solidarity with the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, the Filipino community in British Columbia, and Filipinos across Canada. "We trust that the relevant authorities are addressing the matter, and we remain supportive of efforts to ensure that Filipino cultural events continue to be spaces of pride, dignity, and harmony for all," consul general Emma Sarne said. Emelcris Aurelio, president of the Brooks Filipino Community Association, says she saw footage of the incident on social media and it broke her heart. "It was really tragic, it was horrific," she said. "They don't deserve this." Aurelio says as a leader in her community, it's challenging to come to terms with the tragedy. "It is a trying time for us Filipinos," she said. "It's hard to accept the reality that maybe most of these people are breadwinners back home, they have families, they are kids that maybe have hopes and dreams and a promising future, that just ends up into something that doesn't make sense." Mavi Tolentino, owner of Balay Coffee in Edmonton, says they've opened up their pop-up shop to mourning members of the Filipino community, offering a safe space for those who need support. "Today is just about providing food and space. That's all we could offer right now as a small business, but sometimes, those are all the things that you need." They say Balay Coffee has set up a mutual aid fund called "Bayanihan Fund" for Filipinos in Edmonton. "Bayanihan means community building [and] cooperation in times of need," Tolentino said. "It is powered by communities, so people can donate to these funds and whoever doesn't have access to funds to grab a drink or a pastry, you can just ask us to use the funds to cover the cost, and we will give it to them, no questions asked." They add during times like these, it's important for their community to come together and lean on each other for support. "I know we're far apart, but it is our community, and we are a very connected culture, and we feel what they feel," Tolentino said. The Philippine Edmonton Events and Arts Society also released a statement Sunday in response to the deadly incident in Vancouver. "Words feel inadequate to express the sorrow we all share as a community as we learn about the tragedy that took place at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival in Vancouver yesterday," the statement reads. "The Filipino people are beautiful and resilient. We stand together in grief and in prayer, offering our love and support to the victims and their families and all who have been impacted by this horrific situation." Jay-R De Lara, a Filipino language and culture teacher in the Edmonton Catholic School Division, says he was distraught when he heard about what happened in Vancouver. He says when he thinks of a Filipino gathering, he thinks of a joyous time. "Community is very big in our culture and definitely when ... something tragic happens like this, it makes us very emotional because community is such a big part of our identity," he said. De Lara says he is still trying to figure out what to say to his students when he returns to class on Monday. "How do you even explain why such tragedy took place?" he said. "I think all I can do is really make sure that they know that as Filipinos, we don't back down, right? We go through many things in our lives. The country goes through many events and tragedies. But this one event won't bring us down." Melanie Angeles, president of the Congress of the Philippine Associations of Alberta (COPAA), says when a tragedy befalls a Filipino community in another part of the country, it affects Filipinos everywhere. "Just because they're in Vancouver doesn't mean that they're not part of our community," Angeles said. "This is such a horrific tragedy ... we want to do whatever we can do to help them." Marco Luciano, director of Migrante Alberta, a non-profit advocacy and self-help organization for Filipino immigrants in Canada, says he's been checking in with his colleagues in Vancouver as they grapple with the situation. "Folks are in shock. We just finished a candle-lighting vigil [in Edmonton] ... praying for the families of the victims, the victims, and our community in Vancouver," he said. He says the vigil on Sunday was sombre and many reflected on how the Lapu Lapu Day event, a celebratory and happy occasion, ended up as a tragedy. "It is very unfortunate and it really makes me feel sad, and this opportunity is really a way for us, for me as an individual, but also our organization, to connect with our fellow Filipinos," Luciano said. "I think now is the time to, first and foremost, be together and gather together and pray and heal as a community." Multiple Filipino organizations across the province are in the process of arranging vigils and fundraisers for the Filipino community of Vancouver.
