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.