Meet the new culture minister

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Flor Marcelino plans to pick up where her predecessor left off when it comes to aboriginal arts. (DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

MANITOBA’S aborig­inal artists and per­formers  can rest easy.

Just because their patron saint, Eric Robinson, has vacated the culture portfolio doesn't mean his initiatives will be scaled back.

Robinson's successor, Flor Marcelino, says she believes aboriginal arts are an important plank in provincial tourism. As well, such events as last weekend's Manito-Ahbee Festival instil aboriginal community pride.

"It is now a marquee event in town," says Marcelino, a petite and stylish woman who became the province's first visible-minority cabinet minister after NDP Premier Greg Selinger's inaugural shuffle earlier this month.

"Just to see so many aboriginals in the MTS Centre is a testament to the success of this event."

Marcelino is spending the week being briefed on departmental issues and moving into her Legislative Building office, where she will oversee culture, heritage, tourism and multiculturalism, whose combined budgets account for less than one per cent of the province's $10 billion in spending.

Robinson, who has been appointed co-deputy premier along with new Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk, has kept his sports portfolio.

This is largely to maintain continuity as the province angles to attract the North American Indigenous Games. In his seven years in culture, he oversaw the introduction of numerous programs that offer training to aboriginals in the arts and culture industries.

"And rightly so," Marcelino says. "The arts also aid in the healing process. This community has suffered so much."

Marcelino, 58, emigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1982 with her husband, Orlando, and the first two of their five children.

A backroom NDP supporter with no apparent designs on elected office, she was drafted to run in 2007 after a bizarre dispute involving the original choice and an independent candidate.

"Everybody was surprised when she went into politics," says her longtime friend Emmie Joaquin, editor of Winnipeg's Pilipino Express magazine.

"She's always been in it for the cause, not for herself."

Adds Alan Canlas, publisher of the local Ang Peryodiko paper: "She's a people person before she's a politician."

Marcelino says Orlando, a graphic designer, was lukewarm to her running, but her minister at Broadway Disciples United Church, Ray Cuthbert, convinced her.

"Ray told me, 'You have personal integrity. Go for it.'"

Cuthbert says he has long admired Marcelino for her efforts on behalf of immigrant workers, among other issues.

"I am proud to call her my friend," he says. "She is one of the most dedicated and committed people I know."

Marcelino and Orlando left Manila partly to escape the repressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

"We are political animals," she says. "When we came to Canada, we looked around to see what party suited us best."

Her immigrant experience has also contributed to her interest in human rights, and as such she's a big supporter of that new museum rising at The Forks.

In the coming months, she knows, she'll be hearing from every ethnic and special interest group with an axe to grind.

"I plan to listen to everyone," she says. "All multicultural groups are vital to the life of our province."

Her cabinet appointment is widely seen as a way to placate NDP supporters who were angered that previous visible-minority MLAs had not cracked the inner sanctum.

"I don't know anything about that," says Marcelino, who also used her maiden name, de Guzman, until she sought office. Her full Christian name is Florfina.

"I did not go looking for the job. But I'm humbled the premier has put his trust in me."

She garnered unwanted headlines when, after she emailed her cabinet appointment to family members and friends, word got out before Selinger's announcement.

"Ignorance of the rules is no excuse," she says. "I apologized to the premier."

She claims she was trying to buoy some spirits after a spate of bad news in the Filipino community, most notably the September floods.

"Not everyone I told was so friendly."

Marcelino is the second of six children and the oldest daughter. Her father died when she was 10. She was forced to work to support the family.

"It defined my character," she says. "I wouldn't be who I am if I had had a privileged life."

She studied journalism in Manila but left before completing her master's thesis. Orlando finished his bachelor's degree in fine arts.

In Winnipeg, Marcelino spent 17 years as an administrative assistant at Red River College. She and Orlando also started a monthly newspaper, the Philippine Times, which serves less as a money-maker than an outlet for their politics. She severed ties with it when she was elected.

The Marcelinos lived in the core for many years but now reside in a northwestern suburb. Two of their children, two girls and three boys aged 20-31, are still at home. Marcelino's 84-year-old mother, Trinidad, whom they sponsored to Canada, lives with them.

Though Manitoba's 50,000 strong Filipino community (which is celebrating 50 years in Manitoba) is renowned for its singers and dancers, Marcelino claims she lacks the performing gene herself.

A self-described "frustrated writer," she has had no involvement with Folklorama, which is funded through her department, because she had enough on her plate with her church and political activities, an office job and a houseful of kids.

But she plans to represent the interests of Winnipeg and Manitoba artists.

"Winnipeg is known everywhere as one of Canada's cultural capitals," she says. "This didn't happen by accident."

morley.walker@freepress.mb.ca

Marcelino on the arts:

Asked to name her favourite TV show, Manitoba's new culture minister came up blank.

"ö "I like the CBC," she said. Her favourite TV personality: Peter Mansbridge.

"ö Her favourite radio personality: Anna Maria Tremonti.

"ö The last movie she saw? "I can't remember the last time I went to a movie theatre." When watching movies on TV, she says, "I don't often get to the end."

"ö When pressed to come with a movie she enjoyed, she said: "The Bridges of Madison County. I read the book first. I still like it best."

"ö The last book she enjoyed? "I read one by Wayne Tefs. Also Miriam Toews."

"ö The last performing arts event that sticks in her mind was the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Carmen. "I also saw an opera."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 12, 2009 D1