greenparty.ca/en/candidate/lilian-barrera www.greenparty.ca/en/candidate/lilian-barrera
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Biography
My name is Lilian Barrera and I am running for the role of Member of Parliament with the Green Party to make the world a better place.
I was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and came to Canada in 1998 when I was four years old. Being a middle-class, mixed-race immigrant allowed me to gain a unique perspective on social and racial issues in Canada. In grade school, I developed my skills and interests in geopolitics, history, language, art, and even advanced math, physics and chemistry. Solving the world’s energy crisis was already top of my mind when I was 15, with hydroelectricity (wave power) and nuclear fusion capturing my attention. I ended up attending the University of Ottawa for a double major in Communications and Visual Arts in French Immersion, because my philosophy that miscommunication is the cause of all interpersonal problems around the world pushed me towards it.
While in Ottawa, I worked in four different government departments and was disillusioned by the petty bureaucracy which slowed progress and costed tax-payers money. I vowed to one day improve those issues.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude, I set out to broaden my horizons an Aupair and later a Marketing Manager in Munich, Germany. While there, I fell in love with Germany – the robust public health and public transit systems and the well-maintained infrastructure. I aspired to bring this excellence back to Canada. I also believe my fluency in Spanish, French, and German, as well as basic Arabic and Russian, will help me serve my constituents better.
I came back home to Canada in October 2020 to become an active participant of the democratic process and to work in the film industry. Because of the pandemic, I had to work odd jobs to scrape by. I’ve been a nanny, a server, a tutor, a dog walker, a background actor, a production assistant and a sales associate. I’m grateful that these varied, humble jobs helped me connect with people in need of systemic change. I promise to use everything in my abilities to make that change happen.
Reason for running
As someone with very little private safety net, I understand what it’s like to need the public safety net that is the government, in other words, public services. Because of this vulnerability, I witness firsthand the inequality and inadequacy in our federal government. For example, I have friends on ODSP who don’t have enough to get by and live on the streets/couch-surf, I know international students who were lied to about the cost of living before coming to Canada, and I know many people living paycheck to paycheck (including myself) because their rent has gone up and they spend 50-60% of their monthly income on it!
As a go-getter and problem-solver, if I see no one has stepped up to the plate and it is long overdue, I step up!
Society works best when the voices of the vulnerable are amplified. It is critical that a country like Canada, who boasts its “no one left behind” motto internationally, practice what it preaches. Currently, Canada is complicit in the war crimes of Benjamin Netanyahu's (née Mileikowsky) administration, and there are not enough voices in Parliament with the courage and integrity to stop this.
This is why I’m running to be Davenport’s Member of Parliament.
greenparty.ca/en/candidate/lilian-barrera www.greenparty.ca/en/candidate/lilian-barrera