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Fil-Canadian Rechie Valdez vows support for Filipino business owners

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Rowena Papasin | TFC News Vancouver

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5FXu65E9JvA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Canada’s Minister for Small Business Rechie Valdez visited Vancouver for the first time since her election to the House of Commons and her appointment to the Trudeau Cabinet.</p><p>Filipino community leaders welcomed Valdez at the &quot;Pista ng Bayan&quot; event in Robson Square. There, the minister reaffirmed commitment to be the voice of Filipinos in Canada&#x27;s parliament.</p><div><a data-ved="2ahUKEwibktmQx4uBAxUXCYgKHc6_DuUQFnoECBQQAQ" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/29/23/trudeau-appoints-fil-canadian-to-cabinet" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md" jscontroller="M9mgyc" jsname="qOiK6e" ping="/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/07/29/23/trudeau-appoints-fil-canadian-to-cabinet&amp;ved=2ahUKEwibktmQx4uBAxUXCYgKHc6_DuUQFnoECBQQAQ">Trudeau appoints Fil-Canadian to Cabinet</a></div><p>&quot;You now have a Filipino woman voice in Parliament, not just as a Member of Parliament but now at the Cabinet,&quot; said Valdez. &quot;So, I’m really proud to be able to be the voice of close to one million Filipino-strong across the country.&quot;</p><p>Among those who came to meet with Valdez is April Moran, the owner of Bayong Canada. Moran said she has long wanted to meet the minister to share with her the challenges that small businesses like hers, face.</p><p>&quot;Right now, the challenge for me is inflation,&quot; said Moran. &quot;We don’t know how to margin the prices so how can we resolve this?&quot;</p><p>Valdez, who herself owned a small business before her election, said the government will do what it can to help struggling business owners.</p><p>But she did not specify what kind of help the government is looking at.</p><p>Valdez added: &quot;We’ve launched several programs already to support small business and I will continue to amplify more things that we have been doing but there will be more to come for sure.&quot;</p><p>The Fil-Canadian minister also visited different booths of Filipino businesses that participated in the Pista ng Bayan.</p><p>UFCABC, the group that organized the event, gave grants to participating small business owners so they can set up their booths.</p><p>&quot;She wants to hear from everyone. She tried to really talk to the different business owners as well to learn about their issues,&quot; said Cliff Belgica, an advisory board member. &quot;Hopefully, she brings that back to Ottawa.&quot;</p><p>Valdez also met with community leaders who discussed with her some of the issues facing many immigrants at this time.</p><p>&quot;Our government will continue to be there and work with the different levels of government to help provide the support to all Canadians,&quot; she added.</p>

Canada's Minister of Small Business reaffirmed her support for Filipinos in a visit to Vancouver.