Filipinos, Indigenous people join to memorialize First Filipino in Canada

Painting by Reva Diana, Filipina Canadian abstract realist artist based in Calgary, Alberta whose work is a direct reflection of the unique experience of living within a diaspora. Her art is a juxtaposition of beauty and darkness, as she navigates the complexities of imagery from her Philippine culture, Catholic upbringing and experiences growing up as an immigrant in Canada.

Community celebrates First Filipino in Canada with gravesite event

Filipinos in the lower mainland are celebrating the life of Benson Flores, the first Filipino to settle in Canada in 1861 in Bowen Island. In a graveside ceremony on April 13 participated by the community and the Indigenous people, a monument will be unveiled at the grave of Benson Flores at Vancouver’ Mountain View Cemetery where he was buried in an unmarked grave in 1929.

The event at 10:30 A.M. is part of the project to memorialize Flores which include a documentary film – ‘Benson Flores: The First Magdaragat, a documentary’. History has placed the arrival of Filipinos in Canada in the 1930’s until this hidden part of our history was uncovered by broadcast journalist Joseph Lopez while on a hike in Bowen Island in 2011. In an obscure book, ‘Bowen Island 1872-1972’ by Irene Howard, Lopez read a cursory mention of Benson Flores. That discovery led him on a journey of discovery himself, researching archival records for close to a decade to know more about Flores.

From less than ten Filipinos in Bowen Island in the 1800s, there are now over 174,000 in B.C. according to the 2021 census and 957,355 in Canada representing 2.58% of the total population.

For more info:

Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas: 236-978-1600″