REELECTED FIL-CANADIAN MP NAMED TO CARNEY CABINET

MP Rechie Valdez is flanked by PM Mark Carney and Governor General Mary Simon. Source: FB Page of MP Rechie Valdez

The political star of Filipino-Canadian Rechie Valdez continues to shine brightly.

Not only was she reelected to a seat in the House of Commons in the April 28 federal election—garnering 51.5 percent of the valid votes cast in the electoral district of Mississauga–Streetsville, Ontario—but she was also appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Cabinet as minister of women and gender equality and secretary of state for business and tourism.

Carney made the announcement on the composition of his new Cabinet on May 13 outside Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

In 2021, Valdez became a Member of the Parliament for the first time when she won in the Mississauga-Streetsville riding as a candidate of the Liberal Party under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In 2023, Trudeau named her to his Cabinet as minister of small business.

She also held the position of chief government whip during Carney’s transitional government early this year.

Born in Zambia, a country in Africa, in 1980, Valdez grew up in Mississauga, Ontario.

She obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Windsor.

Before going into politics in 2021, she had been a banker, a successful entrepreneur, and a media personality.

Valdez will join Carney’s two-tiered governing council which is made up of 28 ministers and 10 “junior ministers,” also called secretaries of state.