Jon Reyes

Jon Reyes is a Canadian provincial politician, who was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the riding of St. Norbert in the 2016 election.^[1] He is a member of the Progressive Conservative party, and defeated incumbent NDP MLA Dave Gaudreau. He is the first Canadian born candidate of Filipino descent elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Manitoba. Reyes was appointed as the Special Envoy for Military Affairs by Premier Brian Pallister, on May 3, 2016.

Prior to becoming a politician, Reyes served in the Canadian Forces for a combined 10 years in both the Communication Reserves and the regular force with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). As a reservist, he was awarded the Special Service Medal (NATO) while serving in Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Lahr, Germany in 1993. He would serve in the RCN till 2000 as a Naval Combat Information Operator and then as an instructor at Canadian Forces Fleet School Pacific at CFB Esquimalt.

After his military career, Reyes would then go on to pursue his Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC. After graduating in 2001, he moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba with his wife Cynthia and daughter Reyna. After a brief career as a civil servant in the Federal government, Reyes would use his education that he gained by going into business. Along with his wife, they have owned and operated 2 small businesses while being in business currently for 14 years.

Reyes was also the founder and first President of the Manitoba Filipino Business Council (MFBC) that was established in 2010. The MFBC would gain credibility and recognition with organizations such as the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the World Trade Centre (WTC) Winnipeg and the World Trade Center (WTC) Metro Manila. He would lead the first ever MFBC trade mission to the Philippines back in 2013 working together with the WTC Winnipeg and WTC Metro Manila. Under his leadership, the MFBC would recognize business owners within the Manitoba Filipino business community by hosting 3 consecutive MFBC Awards Galas. The last MFBC Awards Gala which Reyes was President, would be held at then the newly built Canadian Museum for Human Rights during the fall of 2014. He would step down as president on January 2015 where he would be replaced by incoming President Hipolito Alibin Jr., who won a contested election at the MFBC Annual General Meeting prior to Reyes stepping down.

Reyes was a Board Member of the Kidney Foundation of Canada - Manitoba Branch from 2013 - 2016 where he would initiate the Filipino Kidney Health Initiative because of the high rates of kidney disease in the Filipino Community.

He was named to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commanding Officer's Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee in the fall of 2015.

Reyes has been a member of the Manitoba Football Officials Association (MFOA) since 2005, where he performs as an amateur tackle football official and has gone as high as officiating at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) level. He also currently serves as a support official since 2007 at the professional level with the Canadian Football League (CFL).

In addition, he has been a member of the Knights of Columbus since 2013.

Reyes is also proficient in French which has helped him communicate and converse with the Francophone community in his constituency of St. Norbert.

He has been happily married to his wife Cynthia, since 2000 and have 2 children (Reyna - daughter, Miguel - son).

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