Shahid Rashdi
A
bright beacon of hope for South Asian immigrants
A prolific politician, dedicated to
help resolve the problems of individuals newly immigrated to Canada. Motivated to represent the political voice of
voters in expressing their needs to Parliament.
‘’He will be here in few minutes ‘’ His Mrs. told me
and pointed towards a nice looking comfortable sofa set for me to sit there. A
hot cup of traditional milk tea with cookies energised me and I was fresh and ready
for my work. It was about Mr. Shahid Rashdi, a promising politician, a Pakistani
born Canadian national He is contesting
to be a nominee for the liberal party of Canada from the riding of Mississauga
streets Ville For the next federal election
While I was sitting in the drawing room waiting for
him, I recalled his last week discussion with me and his words “like I am from
an air force background, having all qualities which a Soldier should possess including courage, selflessness, careful planning,
strong decision making, determination, discipline, intelligence and Not the least but leadership skills, but other than this I strongly believe that
besides all these behavioural attributes a good leader must also be interested
in political development for his country and around the world.’’ Suddenly, Mr.
Shahid Rashdi entered in the room. He was nicely dressed up. His graceful and
decent dressing made his personality look even more elegant as Mark Twain’s often
quotes that ‘’clothes make the man‘’.
As our conversation started Mr. Rashdi initiated and said “our
community badly needs a person who understands basic problems and issues of
immigrants, especially of new immigrants and have inquisitive mind that absorbs
information quickly and not only observes but brings about the right solution
at the right time for that issue.” According to him, “Immigrants have their
specific type of issues, most of the times these issues belong to visa problems
for their spouses, parents, children and sometimes even for friends and He has committed
with himself that he will bring in all possible options and alternatives within
the context of various circumstances and will make it possible for our public and
their voices to reach to the parliament”. He mentioned that he is determined to
develop a connection with the public and not only connection but he would be available
to then at all-time especially when someone will file one’s complaint, my
office will continuously track and update until the problem is resolved. Our public
would know there is somebody who cares and who is there to hear their voices.
If we have a glance on
the past little bit we find that in 2004 the very first time a Pakistani politician
was elected from the plate form of liberal party and Mr. Rashdi had the
opportunity to work very closely with him because he himself joined the Liberal
party in the same year. He mentioned that it helped him observe the working of
Pakistani and ethnic politicians from every possible angle and he marked the
gaps where he thought the work is needed to be done. He is a person who is
rational in his decisions and who can define his goals precisely,
distinguishing between what he really needs and what he should do.
During his work with the Liberal party he was appointed by the
Governor of Ontario as a member of the Board of Counsel for the Ontario College
of Pharmacists. In this capacity, he worked
with several committees affiliated with the Ontario College of Pharmacists,
including the Discipline Committee; wherein, he acted as an adjudicator on a
panel for the Ontario College of Pharmacists. His decisions can be found on
CanLII (The Canadian Legal Information Institute is a non-profit organization
created and funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, on behalf of
its 14 member law societies.).
I found his loved ones talking about him with great confidence and
very positive attitude. Mrs.Rashdi, his lifetime partner said few words about him
“we passed an awesome life with each other because we gave what takes to our
best. When comes to family and home it’s all about keeping one’s self calm
regardless of circumstances, thinking clearly and acting decisively with
judgement and responsibility after adding love, scarifies and compassion to
your relationship and he gave it all with great care, love and passion”. One of
his sons and daughters said “there is no reason not to love and not to respect him
as a father and as a mentor for how much positive energy he carries”. Another
old friend from his school days told me, “our 66 years old Rashdi has a well
–balanced personality. He has always been stable, daring and like a core leader
a good communicator and a patient listener who always maintained cool
temperament even in the frightening situations”.
While talking to him I realized for him his mother is the role model
and his influence for social work. His mother “Nuzhat Rashdi”, was a very
active social worker and founder of two secondary schools in Sialkot Pakistan.
She was also the founder general sectary of all Pakistan woman association (APWA).
On the other hand his father, Abdul Rehman Rashdi, served in the United States
information services and later in media in Pakistan.
It sounds like for him the word “Liberal” has played a vital role
throughout his life. He calls himself a moderated person because he inherited
liberal values from his parent’s teachings. Even for the debated he used to
choose liberal topics and so he joined liberal party in 2004 in Canada. His
journey with Liberal party took him from volunteer to director of riding association,
chair of the fund raising, manager satellite offices and others federal and
provisional levels.
To sum up we can say that Mr. Rashdi is a dedicated Liberal, whose
foremost goal is to provide assistance to South Asians who are existing immigrants
and to the future immigrants to Canada.
