MLA Elmore voices support for De Leon for permanent resident status

MLA Elmore voices support for De Leon for permanent resident status

Mable Elmore, BC’s Member of Legislative Assembly

By Nestor Burgos

The Philippine Reporter

VANCOUVER—“Let Danilo stay. Let’s grant him permanent residency in Canada. It’s the right thing to do.”

This was the call of Mable Elmore, British Columbia’s sole Member of Legislative Assembly who is of Filipino heritage, to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in support of Filipino migrant group leader Danilo De Leon.

In a letter to Fraser, Elmore expressed support for the granting of permanent resident status to De Leon under humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

“Canada would be a better country with Mr. De Leon. In humble yet noble ways, Danilo has epitomized values that everyone should live by: kindness, compassion, and caring for others,” Elmore said.

De Leon, chairperson of the Filipino migrant rights group Migrante in Canada, faces deportation after the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in November last year rejected his application for Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) to prevent his deportation.

The PRRA ensures that those removed from Canada and sent to another country are not in danger of torture, persecution or face risk to life or of cruel punishment.

Danilo De Leon, chairperson of Migrante Canada

De Leon, who came to Canada in 2009 as a foreign temporary worker and worked for a cleaning company in Alberta, lost his status in 2017 after the IRCC denied his application for a bridging open work permit.

Migrante and other supporters of De Leon have appealed for a stop to his deportation and to grant him permanent resident status citing “grave risk” of political persecution if he will return to the Philippines.

Migrante is among the progressive organizations that have been continuously “Red-tagged” or labelled as “terrorist” by the Philippine government. Many lawyers, journalists, environmental activists and political dissenters who have been Red-tagged” have been killed or arrested in the Philippines

Elmore, who represents the Vancouver-Kensington district, cited De Leon’s contribution to the Canadian economy especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when he continued to deliver milk and other essential goods in towns in Alberta province.

“Danilo left his family in the Philippines so he can earn a living for them in Canada in 2009. As a temporary foreign worker, he helped fill labour shortages and contributed to the growth of the Canadian economy. Canada owes Danilo for the prosperity its citizens and residents enjoy,” Elmore said.

Aside from Elmore, Canada’s biggest labor unions have expressed support for calls to grant De Leon permanent resident status. These include the 715,000-member Canadian Union of Public Employee and the Vancouver and District Labour Council which has about 60,000 members.

Elmore in her letter to Fraser cited the mandate he was given after being appointed to his post by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“The mandate called for action on commitments by the federal government, like exploring ways to regularize the status of undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities. Danilo is here and wants to stay,” Elmore said.

An online petition campaign in support of De Leon continues to gain support. The petition (https://chng.it/xXPLyWwZqc) has 1,305 signatories as of March 7.