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AT THE TIME of this writing, it looks like Canada will have another Conservative minority government under the steely watch of Stephen Harper. Which means more of the same. The same right-wing economic and political policies skewed to favor big corporations and banks over the poor and working classes including the vast majority of immigrant population and foreign temporary workers.

I attended a National Ethnic Press Council roundtable a week before the Oct. 14 elections where Liberal leader Stephane Dion was the speaker. I asked two questions: 1. Would you sign the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Migrant Workers? His answer: Yes, if there are no technicalities involved. 2. What would you do to help foreign temporary workers? His reply: I will fast track their becoming Canadians.

If Dion were to be the next Prime Minister, we could hold him to his words. But that may not be happening soon. We’re stuck with Harper who was next to impossible to meet during the campaign because he was just not accessible except to top editors of the dailies or to CBC’s Peter Mansbridge.

Besides, it’s apparent that the main plank of the Conservative program on labor is to pack the country with foreign temporary workers (translation: cheap labor) without labor rights and benefits and send them back to their home countries when they’re no longer needed.

But let’s see what happens next after the dust has settled in this election. For sure, the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois will be bickering intensely against one another while the Tories will have more power to implement their Bush-inspired agenda. It was a sad spectacle to watch NDP’s Jack Layton and Liberal’s Dion during the campaign attacking each other with passion as if either was the main target of the opposition. What they achieved was worse (for them) than the pre-election power equation in Parliament: more seats for the Conservatives.

This looks like a reverse of what’s happening in the U.S. where Democratic candidate Barack Obama is much favored by the polls than the Republican John McCain. I can’t wait to see, though, how a Harper-Obama chemistry would look like. A supposedly liberal-leaning U.S. superpower leader meeting with a Canadian version of ex-prez Bush. Would Obama really work for pulling out U.S. troops from Iraq while Harper would tend to send more Canadian troops to Afghanistan?

For sure, a second, stronger minority government for Harper would give him more reason to rule like a majority. That’s what he said.

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On page five of this issue (Oct. 16-31, 2008, The Philippine Reporter) there is an open letter of appeal to GTA outlets of Filipino newspapers to help in preventing the theft of bundles of newspapers. The suspect is a publisher of another paper.

We in the local community media know who this person is. It’s been reported that he (or his delivery person) was seen by a storeowner pick up a bundle of another newspaper and brought it to he only knows where, most likely the garbage.

In one instance, a store owner specifically asked this guy not to pick up a bundle of newspapers. When the storeowner turned her back to him, he nevertheless carted away with the bundle.

Obviously, his intention was to reduce his competitors’ circulation so it would appear his paper had a bigger circulation.

I am reminded of the days when the Marcos regime bought bundles of the newspapers We Forum, Malaya, and other anti-dictatorship publications in Manila in the early 80s when the so-called mosquito press started to irritate Marcos.

But that was suppression of dissent and press freedom. The struggle then was in the political realm. What we have here locally is motivated purely by profit. And it is nothing less than low life.
According to another Filipino editor, while he was in a restaurant with colleagues, he witnessed how within minutes of delivery, a bundle of newspapers disappeared and on its spot appeared a bundle of this guy’s paper.

What do we do to stop this nefarious practice of a person occupying a prestigious position in our community. Do we need to expose him in print? Do we need to call the police? Maybe if he apologized to us and commit to mend his ways, there will be no need for this. (The Philipppine Reporter, Oct. 16-31, 2008)

TORONTO — The recent concert produced by Studio Six, “Celebratel Music with Josie de Leon,” was a major production where the performers were all local talents. This is a remarkable effort by our local producers to harness the local musicians, singers, dancers and choreographers to produce a major event comparable to those where the stars are imported from the Philippines or the U.S.

Much like locally-grown produce whose freshness and price benefit local consumers, our local talents shine on center stage when given a chance, not as front-acts nor one-or two-song time killers, but as stars in their own right.

There have been other attempts like this before but I haven’t seen one so elaborate and so filled with varied artists. First, there’s Josie whose effortless stage presence and ease at musical performance fill the stage and stir anticipation in the audience. I’ve watched her sing modern Tagalog love songs that required both energy and lilting tunes but the recent concert revealed she could spar with tenor Leander Mendoza and hit the high notes with aplomb doing a Phantom of the Opera number. And her repertoire included classic Broadway, pop songs, Natalie Cole (“Unforgetable”), Imelda Papin (“Kung Liligaya Ka”), Hot Dog (“Pers Lab”) and numbers with Canadian Idol Mikey Bustos.

Mendoza was a treat with his mastery of the piano and his gift of voice that easily filled the auditorium. Bustos was pure energy on stage with his dances and songs. They are only two of our local stars who made the show worth seeing.

There’s Karen Tan, whose powerful rendition of Kuh Ledesma’s “Dito Ba?” almost mersmerized the audience. I wanted to have more of her songs but her newborn baby rightly deserved time with her more than her stage appearances.

I was reminded of Vonnie Beltran, Chyrell Samson and Rodney Ronquillo whose star quality performances in our Ginsaugon concert in 2006 wowed the audience. Why were they not asked to showcase their talents here? Lilac Caña’s and Emilio Zarris’s appearances could have completed the local cast of stars.

But of course, there was Marvin de Guzman whose rendition of a Gary Valenciano number was done with much feeling. And there was Julius Tinsay whose Spanish numbers entertained the audience no doubt.

Mon Torralba of the Hot Dog fame was the musical director of the show. His handling of the lead guitar kept the musical numbers in order. His band was wonderful. It gave the show a professional sound that filled the air. It was like the glue the kept the show together.

Classical violinist Alex Cheung’s Phantom of the Opera truly held us breathless. And the dancers? With Josie singing and the band playing, the dancers drew the crowd up on their feet singing and dancing towards the end of the show.

The Celebrate magazine published for the show was glossy, had some interesting pieces on the artists and had more ads than it needed.

It could have been a perfect show had the Chinese Cultural Centre auditorium in Scarborough been filled to capacity that night.

Which brings us to a side issue. Why aren’t the usual suspects in the community, some of the high profile personalities not around? I’m sure Josie and her group of artists were not amiss in supporting their events, performing for free many times. Where were the massive crowds that thronged to the events of PIDC, Gawad Kalinga and the regional associations that had our local talents volunteering their time?

We owe these artists the support they deserve. I have always called them diamonds in our backyard. Our existence in a cold country like Canada would not have been richer without them.