the Real, progressive champion we deserve

a candidate who walks amongst us.

Family and Early Life

Wali was born in Karachi, Pakistan to a middle-class family in 1994. His father is a retired civil service officer in the Government of Pakistan; and his mother is an aesthetician and hairdresser in Brampton, Ontario.

Coming from a line of activists, thinkers, and change-makers, the zeal of revolution runs strong in Wali’s veins.

On his paternal side, his grandfather was Jamal Abro, a Sindhi short story writer, lawyer, civil judge, and civil servant. His great-grandfather was Allama Ali Khan Abro, a prominent scholar and educationist in the Sindhi and English languages. His uncle, Badar Abro, was a close aide of Jam Saqi, and was arrested in the Jam Saqi case for his involvement with communism in Pakistan during the 1970s and 1980s.

On his maternal side, his great-grandfather was Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi, a Sindhi freedom fighter, politician, and journalist.

At the age of 4, Wali moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where his father was posted as commercial counsellor in the Pakistani High Commission to Kuala Lumpur for four years from 1999 to 2002. He moved back to Karachi in 2002, where he ultimately completed his A-levels (high school) and graduated from The Lyceum in 2013. He then immigrated to Canada in November 2013, having been sponsored by his mother.

ACTIVISM

Soon after immigrating to Canada, Wali began applying for various entry-level jobs and for higher education. After a few short stints at some restaurants, he began working full-time at a Tim Hortons drive-thru store in Mississauga from February 2014 until moving to London, Ontario in September 2014 to attend Western University. It was during this time that Wali realised Canada was far more “capitalist” than he initially thought, and realised that the cycle of labour poverty and wage slavery existed in Canada just as it did in his home country, Pakistan. The common understanding in Pakistan of manual labour work in Western, developed countries was that there was dignity, respect, and fair compensation in such work.

His coworkers were working mothers and disenfranchised youth working full-time (40 hours per week) on near-minimum wage to pay rent and support families. As a young and healthy 19 year-old, even he would barely have strength at the end of the day to perform menial tasks; let alone take care after an entire family. Even weekends were spent on recovery and errands. He understood that there was no way anyone working such jobs could study part-time in college or university to upgrade their skills and land better careers. It was almost as if the system kept them beat down and trapped in this cycle of cheap slave labour. Even a single missed shift would make the difference between paying rent or not. This can be compared to the Marxist theory of labour exploitation.

During his undergraduate studies, Wali became an active community volunteer through his involvement with various student clubs such as the Muslim Students’ Association and the Pakistani Students’ Association. He had a particular interest in fighting racism and Islamophobia, but also participated in general community volunteer activities such as cleaning neighbourhoods, interfaith community building, fundraising for charities, visiting the elderly, and collecting food for local food banks. He also ran for his university’s senate to advocate for greater honesty in social science and history courses in terms of systemic racism and inherent biases

It was also during this time that he first became involved with the political process, having volunteered with the Liberal Party of Canada during the 2015 federal election, followed by a nomination race in the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 2017, and the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 2018 provincial election.

Every Child Matters / No Pride In Genocide, July 1st 2021 at Queen’s Park

Wali has since been an advocate for electoral reform, holistic social supports, and de-colonization. He is an active community volunteer, keeps close to the grassroots, and is a passionate activist for Indigenous rights in Turtle Island and beyond.

Now, he is taking this fight forward by running to be Councillor for Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth on a platform that features immediate housing for people experiencing homelessness or precarious housing; improved public safety by significantly defunding the police and investing in community well-being instead; and rebuilding Toronto’s infrastructure with climate change and population growth in mind.

Learn more about his platform here.