Councillor Lenny Zhou blasts attempts to politicize Filipino cultural centre motion

Posted by ReyFort Media

Vancouver Councillor Lenny Zhou says it’s “unfortunate” that some people in the Filipino community have been trying to “politicize” an initiative to deliver a Filipino cultural centre in the city.

Zhou made the remarks during a townhall Sunday (November 9), which was organized by the United Filipino Canadian Associations in BC (UFCABC).

“We cannot allow politics to divide our community,” Zhou said.

Zhou and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim are co-presenting a motion to city council to facilitate the development of a Filipino cultural centre on Main Street.

The motion is set for a vote by council on November 26.

“We need everyone to come and support,” Zhou said.

The UFCABC and several community organizations have endorsed Sim and Zhou’s motion.

This demonstrates that the Filipino community is predominantly in favour of giving the motion a chance to further the goal of creating a cultural centre in Vancouver.

However, there are groups and individuals who are trying to discredit the motion by casting doubts about the motivations of Sim.

Meanwhile, these same critics have not put forward any alternative project, which means that they have nothing to offer to the community.

The development of the cultural centre is a project by the Filipino Legacy Society (FLS).

In his remarks, Zhou emphasized that the motion is a “high level” measure, a “strategic” move to secure the centre on Main Street.

The city explained that after the motion, there will be opportunities for further community engagement.

Zhou also noted that questions about who will run the centre and what programming will be done are matters that have to be decided down the road.

“We are not there yet,” the councillor said, stressing that the first thing that needs to be done is to build the centre.

Zhou underscored the importance of the motion as this represents an immediate chance to deliver the centre.

“We need this opportunity,” Zhou said.

Otherwise, Zhou said that the prospect of having a Filipino cultural centre may have to “wait another 20 years”.

“We have to do this,” Zhou said.

Zhou also explained that the motion involves a “conditional approval”.

This means that if developer Macario “Tobi” Reyes loses control over the property, it will not affect the future centre.

In the worst scenario that the property comes to new ownership, Zhou said that the “new buyer has to build the Filipino cultural centre”.