October 16, 2026: At press time, only CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko and OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie have responded fully to the Open Letter to B.C.'s Party Leaders and Candidates featured in the October 1, 2026 edition of Canadian Filipino Net (CFNet), the independent, non-commercial digital newsmagazine published by the non-profit Maple Bamboo Network Society of BC.
The core of their questionnaire in the open letter focuses on preventing the long-awaited Filipino Community and Cultural Center (FCCC) project from getting trapped in political gridlock. The core pillars of the questionnaire, as re-stated in the reminder e-mail on October 8, center on:
- A Neutral, Merit-Based Site Evaluation: Demanding that political party leaders commit to a fair, objective assessment that evaluates the prominent competing proposals—specifically the Mount Pleasant framework and the South Vancouver transit-hub proposal—with equal, rigorous consideration;
- A Dedicated "Wellness Wing": Building on CFNet’s published framework, "The Wellness Wing: This Is Our Moment," CFNet asks leaders to commit to provincial partnership for not just capital infrastructure, but the healthcare operational delivery required to support a specialized trauma-informed community recovery wing following the 2025 Lapu-Lapu Day festival car-ramming tragedy; and
- Definitive Budgetary Allocation: The new elected B.C. government commits in it first budget to a defined amount for the FCCC.
Writes CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko in her response: “Within 30 days, a CentreBC government would appoint a ministerial working group to recommend, within six months, the site for the Centre, whether a Wellness Wing should be built alongside the Community and Cultural Wing, and the provincial contribution needed to complement the federal allocation already in place. If CentreBC does not form government, we would support a government that does this.”
OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie responds: “The Lapu-Lapu day tragedy must not be forgotten, and we will work together to make sure that something positive can come out of this and your community can continue to heal. On that note, we have reviewed your proposals with OneBC executive team and we all agree that your two requests are both reasonable, practical to implement and fully in line with wider Canadian values. We are happy to support these initiatives with you.”
The urgency of the questionnaire was further highlighted on October 8, 2026, when internal political friction, as reported in the main media, spilled into the open as long-time sitting NDP MLA Mable Elmore publicly criticized Premier Eby's $15 million campaign promise for lacking a concrete, site-specific commitment.
About the author: Dr. Pagtakhan is a retired University of Manitoba pediatric professor and lung specialist who has dedicated his life to medicine, community advocacy and public service. A landmark figure in Canadian governance, he served as a Member of Parliament for nearly 16 years (1988-2004), including Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Minister of Western Economic Diversification, and Regional Minister for Manitoba. His unique community and professional experience as a clinical medical specialist-educator and a federal portfolio-political minister provides an unassailable foundation of perspective and expertise for evaluating public health architecture, federal infrastructure grants, and the strict due-diligence frameworks required to secure a multi-generational community capital project like the FCCC.
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