Jon Reyes

Jon Reyes is a Canadian provincial politician, who was re-elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the new constituency of Waverley In the 2019 election. He is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and defeated incumbent NDP MLA Dave Gaudreau in the 2016 election, where he first became an MLA for the constituency of St. Norbert. 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 (SEMA) by Premier Brian Pallister, on May 3, 2016 and remains in that role.

In his role as SEMA, Reyes, a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, has been instrumental in gathering feedback from CAF personnel stationed in Manitoba on how to improve provincial government services offered to CAF personnel on their relocation to Manitoba. In April 2017, Reyes' recommendation for Manitoba Public Insurance to accept Canadian Forces driver licences and identification cards to help establish the identity of military personnel who relocate to Manitoba and apply for a Manitoba driver licence or identification card, came into fruition at an announcement at 17 Wing Winnipeg with former Minister of Crown Services Ron Schuler. He has also represented the Province of Manitoba at the inaugural Seamless Canada Meeting at the Canadian Forces Staff College in Toronto held on June 27, 2018 and the second Seamless Canada Meeting in Ottawa on December 5, 2018, where he met with other provincial/territorial representatives to share a compilation of initiatives and services already in place for Manitoba's military community.

On May 10, 2017, Reyes was also named to the Fiscal Responsibility Committee of Cabinet, a committee tasked to examine priority matters of the Government of Manitoba related to fiscal and budgetary responsibility, which included strategic transformation priorities, providing oversight for key transformation projects identified in the Fiscal Performance Review and assuming responsibility for other strategic initiatives as directed by Treasury Board or Cabinet.

Reyes was also appointed President of the Manitoba Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) in March 2018 and met with provincial and territorial representatives to address the state of Francophone affairs in the Province of Manitoba, at the 34th Session of the APF Regional Assembly in Quebec City on July 10, 2018.

On, December 6, 2018, Reyes was named on the Economic Growth Committee of Cabinet, a committee which oversees a whole-of-government approach to growing the provincial economy.

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, British Columbia. 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 Cynthia, they had owned and operated 2 small businesses for 16 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 served as a support official since 2007 at the professional level with the Canadian Football League (CFL).

He has been a member of the Knights of Columbus since 2013.

He is married to Cynthia, since 2000 and has 2 children: Reyna, a daughter and Miguel, a son.