Meet Jaeden Dela Torre. At 18 years old he is the youngest candidate running for a seat in the Canadian Parliament. He is also a proud Filipino.
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| https://www.straight.com/news/1311121/18-year-old-ndp-steveston-richmond-east-candidate-jaeden-dela-torre-proud-his-filipino |
Jaeden Dela Torre is one of the youngest candidates in the ongoing federal election campaign.
At 18 years of age, the Richmond-born and –raised contender has an early start in politics, which is quite rare among his peers.
“Politics means making progress and change, and generally setting a positive vision for the country,” Dela Torre explained to the Georgia Straight in a phone interview about his interest in politics.
Dela Torre grew up in a tightly-knit Filipino family, which can be seen in his campaign.Family members come door knocking with him. They are also active on social media.
“They’ve been providing love and support, and they’re there when I need them,” Dela Torre said.
His parents came from the Philippines, and built a new life in Canada.
“I am very proud of being Filipino,” Dela Torre said.
According to Dela Torre, he wants to inspire other young Filipinos to seek elected office and get involve the public life of the country.
If you can't tell already this story is not one to celebrate. What you have here is a no-nothing young man who is dubiously Canadian running for a seat in the Canadian government. He is running on the NDP ticket and his mentor is Jagmeet Singh.
Jagmeet and Jaeden are both faces of the New Canada. Sons of immigrant parents they face the challenge of living in two worlds. Jagmeet lives in the world of Indian Sikhs and Jaeden in the world of Filipino immigrants.
Jaeden saying he is "proud of being Filipino" is confusing for anyone who would vote of him as well as for himself. Why would any Canadian vote for someone who says they are proud to be anything but Canadian? What does he mean exactly by being proud of being Filipino? He was born and raised in Canada. He should be proud to be Canadian right? No because his immigrant parents are thoroughly Filipino and likely raised him as such.
A glance at the headlines about this young man show that only the Philippine media is referring to Jaeden as a hyphenated Canadian.
They do this for every person living overseas who has even a single drop of Filipino blood. Perhaps it makes them feel proud as Filipinos. Notice how the Canadian news says Jaeden is proud of his Filipino heritage while Jaeden actually says he is proud to be Filipino and the Inquirer calls him a Fil-Canadian.
Who does Jaeden want to be? A Filipino or a Canadian? He can't be both. No one can. Even if he does have dual citizenship he cannot be both a Filipino and a Canadian. Just imagine having a member of the Philippine government who is proud to be American. Would anybody stand for that? Where will Jaeden's loyalties lie if he is elected to Parliament? He will be indebted to the immigrant and Filipino communities and not to Canada or Canadians.
For the moment Jaeden is surely just a pawn the NDP can use to shape their policies. As an 18 year old who thinks "Politics means making progress and change, and generally setting a positive vision for the country" it is obvious he is very naive and will do whatever his mentor Jagmeet and the party tell him.
Both Jaeden and Jagmeet represent the changing face of Canada and the West. As more people immigrate to Europe and North America from Africa and Asia those countries will inevitably change. There is no going back. The point of no return was passed long ago.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagmeet_Singh |
Jaeden saying he is "proud of being Filipino" is confusing for anyone who would vote of him as well as for himself. Why would any Canadian vote for someone who says they are proud to be anything but Canadian? What does he mean exactly by being proud of being Filipino? He was born and raised in Canada. He should be proud to be Canadian right? No because his immigrant parents are thoroughly Filipino and likely raised him as such.
A glance at the headlines about this young man show that only the Philippine media is referring to Jaeden as a hyphenated Canadian.
 |
| https://usa.inquirer.net/42953/fil-canadian-18-running-for-parliament |
Who does Jaeden want to be? A Filipino or a Canadian? He can't be both. No one can. Even if he does have dual citizenship he cannot be both a Filipino and a Canadian. Just imagine having a member of the Philippine government who is proud to be American. Would anybody stand for that? Where will Jaeden's loyalties lie if he is elected to Parliament? He will be indebted to the immigrant and Filipino communities and not to Canada or Canadians.
For the moment Jaeden is surely just a pawn the NDP can use to shape their policies. As an 18 year old who thinks "Politics means making progress and change, and generally setting a positive vision for the country" it is obvious he is very naive and will do whatever his mentor Jagmeet and the party tell him.
Both Jaeden and Jagmeet represent the changing face of Canada and the West. As more people immigrate to Europe and North America from Africa and Asia those countries will inevitably change. There is no going back. The point of no return was passed long ago.
Filipinos cannot even run their own country yet they think they can run a first world country.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he is running for office convinced its the ticket to fame and wealth c/o the backs of his countrymen, just like his parents told him politicians tend to do back in the old country?
ReplyDelete