Greg Carlos elected to Steinbach city council as its first councillor of colour

Greg Carlos has been elected to Steinbach city council in Manitoba. He is the first Filipino to run for council in the city and will be its first councillor of colour, CBC News reported.

Greg Carlos has been elected to Steinbach city council in Manitoba, CBC News reported. He is the first Filipino to run for council in the historically Mennonite and fast-growing city, and will be its first councillor of colour.

Carlos, 35, moved to Steinbach as a teenager with his family almost 20 years ago. Since then he has been a health care aide, vice-president of the Steinbach Progressive Conservative Association and president of the South EastMan Filipino Association, and has served on the board of the Summer in the City festival, according to CBC.

"It's time. We have so many Filipinos in Steinbach. We are contributing so much … in different sectors like in the medical field, in agri-industry. And it's time to have a voice, to have a voice here in Steinbach as a Filipino, as a minority group." — Greg Carlos

The result

Steinbach has six councillors. Unofficial results published by SteinbachOnline show Carlos finished fifth with 2,048 votes, just behind Ron Falk, the only other new councillor, on 2,089. Susan Penner, Jake Hiebert, Damian Penner and Bill Hiebert return, and Mayor Earl Funk was acclaimed for a third term.

Voter turnout was just below 30 per cent, CBC reported, a large increase from 17 per cent in 2022, when all incumbents were re-elected.

A growing community

More than 1,500 Filipinos call the city home, according to CBC. Forty per cent of Steinbach's more than 18,000 residents are first- or second-generation Canadians, according to Statistics Canada's 2021 census.

On 13 October, days before advance polls opened, a racist banner referencing voting in the city was hung from a highway overpass north of the community and taken down by RCMP. Carlos said he has been welcomed with open arms in Steinbach and pointed to the Summer in the City festival's multicultural elements, including a citizenship ceremony, as proof of the city's welcoming nature. "It shows now that Steinbach is here for everyone," he said.

Falk said he was not surprised to see Carlos elected. "Certainly, he has the backing of the Filipino community, but I think he would have the backing of other people as well. He's not an unknown commodity; he's very well-known in Steinbach," he said.

Carlos said he hopes his election leads other people to seek public service. "It doesn't matter where you guys come from, what you speak. I encourage everyone, if you have the heart, if you have the courage to help people, go for it," he said.

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