Canada’s Liberal Party taps another Filipina to run for Parliament

Rechie Valdez is the fourth Filipino Canadian running for Parliament in the Sept. 20, 2021 election. SCREENSHOT

The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) on Aug. 15 acclaimed Filipino Canadian entrepreneur Rechie Valdez as it candidate for Mississauga-Streetsville, hours after the snap election was announced.

Valdez is the third Filipino Canadian woman to be acclaimed by the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) as official candidate for Parliament in the elections to be held on September 20, 2021.The other two Liberal candidates are Elizabeth Rosaldo Quinto for Oxford County, Ontario and Virginia Austria-Bremner for Vancouver-Kingsway, B.C.

A mother of two, Valdez is currently the vice-president for sales and marketing of Paper Crane & Co., the Paper Crane Express Catering & Co., and Battle Canada. She is also the owner of Chietopia Bakery, a specialty bakery in Mississauga.

She was a corporate banker for 15 years with cross-enterprise expertise in reporting, project management, change management and strategy. She became a serial creative entrepreneur, that is, a “baker + podcaster + non-profit executive + apparel marketer + basketball newbie in a few short years…just before turning 40.”

A sports enthusiast and fundraiser, she is a graduate of BCS Computer Science from the University of Windsor in 2003 and has completed the Leadership Development Program at BMO Insitute for Learning in 2016.

Phil De Luna, who is running for the Greens in Toronto-St. Paul’s is the fourth Filipino Canadian seeking office in this election.

No Filipino Canadian has been elected to Parliament since Liberal MP Dr. Rey Pagtakhan more than 22 years ago.