Filipino Lawyer Eyes Senate of Canada Seat

Filipino lawyer Maria Eleanor Rodriguez (in red) with her first cousin, Ms. Bea Purisima Villaroman, a great great granddaughter of Philippine hero Jose Rizal's eldest sister Saturnina Rizal Hidalgo, at Earl Bales Park in North York, Toronto.

Volume 1, Issue No. 3

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and Currents & Breaking News (CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

Our latest as of Monday, July 22, 2019 

~  A Filipino woman lawyer is seeking a seat in the 105-member Senate of Canada to further her advocacy for women, the youth, the immigrant communities, the elderly, and the visible minorities, especially Filipinos. The Niagara Falls resident, a long-time law practitioner in Ontario, says her being an immigrant, female and a lawyer puts her in a unique position to help people. Maria Eleanor Rodriguez appears to be the first Canadian of Filipino descent to publicly declare her intentions even as a vacancy in the Ontario representation will occur in January next year and the following two years.

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MARIA ELEANOR RODRIGUEZ, BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR

Advocate for Women and Minorities Eyes Senate Seat 

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.” ― Kahlil Gibran

TORONTO - The Senate of Canada is a full house now. One hundred and five members sit, representing Canada's 10 provinces and three territories from the Pacific to the Atlantic to the Arctic, or as popularly stated, from coast to coast to coast. (As of 23 April 2019, there are 104 sitting senators and one vacancy, according to a list by Wikipedia).

It's the chamber of “sober second thought” of Parliament whose members are appointed, the other half is the House of Commons consisting of 338 MPs (Members of Parliament) elected at large in their electoral district or riding.

Ontario is allocated 24 seats, as are the three other major regions, namely, Quebec, the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) and the Western provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan). 

The situation in the Senate has stabilized since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister in November 2015 and started to fill up vacancies. In total, he has named 30 senators, compared to 59 by Stephen Harper, his predecessor, during his nine years (2006 to 2015) in office.

To end partisanship in Senate appointments, Trudeau introduced an innovation in 2016 - the creation of the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, the non-partisan body consisting of three permanent federal members and two members each from provinces or territories where a vacancy is to be filled.

Thus qualified individuals wishing to be appointed may apply, based on their merit and not on political affiliation, to the board, which then makes up a shortlist of candidates to be considered when vacancies occur. 

This change has a significant effect on the Filipino communities in Ontario, the province where most of the estimated 851,410 Filipino-Canadians in all of Canada live. The provincial capital, Toronto, is home to Canadians of Filipino descent, at 282,385 people, the fourth largest visible minority group behind the Indian, Chinese, and Black communities.

Despite their numbers, there is not one Filipino in the Senate to represent Ontario. 

Until Mr. Trudeau, a Liberal, changed the rules recently, the pool from which to pick a nominee was limited by party affiliation. But now that partisanship is set aside and merit gains more weight, Senate hopefuls come from other sectors. 

One of these is a practising lawyer, Maria Eleanor Rodriguez, the Philippine-born advocate for women and racial equity, based in the City of Niagara Falls, Ontario. (Background: https://www.niagarafallstourism.com/niagara-region/city-of-niagara-falls/the-falls/).

Knowledgeable, articulate and outspoken, Ms. Rodriguez' background in law, her community grounding, and a keen understanding of issues affecting visible minorities provide a rich framework for legislative work in the Senate. (More info at: https://www.merlaw.ca/about)

"I'm really hoping that I'll be given the opportunity to become a Senator here in Canada because I would like to represent the minority, female, immigrant. I believe that no senator that I know of represents or advocates for them," she states in a recent interview while in Toronto. 

"When I say immigrant does not just necessarily mean Filipinos. But since I am Filipino, I would like to be able to advocate for them as well. And there are so many Filipinos here in Canada. It saddens me that I have met a lot of them who have experienced discrimination in the country, and I want to do something about it," she explains.

Ms. Rodriguez was at Earl Bales Park in North York accompanying a close relative, her first cousin, on a visit from the Philippines, Ms. Bea Purisima Villaroman, a great great granddaughter of Philippine hero Jose Rizal's eldest sister Saturnina Rizal Hidalgo. (Videos at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXZQuxQ_wB4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_hAqB5oZIg).

The two were paying their respects to the hero on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, his 158th birth anniversary. Rizal's execution by musketry on December 30, 1896, in Manila sparked the Philippine revolution against colonizer Spain, which in turn led to the declaration of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.

In Ontario which Ms. Rodriguez seeks to represent, the 24 slots are fully occupied. However, three senators are scheduled to retire in the next three years, namely, Nicole Eaton on January 21, 2020, or six months from now; Jim Munson on July 14, 2021; and Thanh Hai Ngo on January 3, 2022.

"I notice that there is no Filipino in the Senate right now," she notes. "I believe I am very much qualified . . . I have a huge experience when it comes to law. I know for sure that if I become a Senator, I would be able to help a lot of Filipinos here in Canada," Ms. Rodriguez points out.

A single mother with a full-time job and two young children to take care of, Ms. Rodriguez worked her way up to becoming a lawyer in Canada.

"I am proud of what I have achieved but I want to do more," she says, explaining, "I am not a political person but it's just that I really believe I can help a lot of people in my own way."

Ms. Rodriguez has recently put up a group called "Awareness Against Racial Discrimination" to advocate for the visible minority, the female, the elderly and the youth.

"When people started coming to us seeking our assistance, I realize that the one thing I have always been passionate about is helping those in need," she states in another interview.

"This is the biggest factor that contributed to my desire of becoming a Senator - my passion to help," she emphasizes.

"Clearly," she adds, "it's not just the Filipinos I want to help but everyone else. I am an immigrant, I'm female, so I believe that I'm in a unique position because apart from being Filipino, an immigrant, a woman, I'm a lawyer. 

"So I know there's a lot of people that will be able to identify with me and I don't think you will see one in the Senate who had the combination that I do . . . being an immigrant, female and a lawyer. I believe I will be an asset in the Senate," Ms. Rodriguez reiterates. (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.)