Ontario MPP Kaleed Rasheed resigns from Ford's cabinet following Greenbelt probe
CBC
Mississauga East-Cooksville MPP Kaleed Rasheed has resigned from cabinet and the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus in the wake of an integrity commissioner probe into the province's Greenbelt land swap.
Rasheed's resignation comes after reporting from CTV and the Trillium questioned the timeline about a trip to Las Vegas.
In his investigation into the controversial decision to open portions of Ontario's protected Greenbelt land to housing development, the province's integrity commissioner interviewed Rasheed about the trip after the Trillium reported that Rasheed travelled there with Amin Massoudi, then Ford's principal secretary, at the same time as developer Shakir Rehmatullah.
Rehmatullah's company owns land that was among the parcels removed from the Greenbelt in November 2022 for housing development. Rehmatullah is the founder and president of Markham, Ont.-based Flato Developments, which was behind three successful requests to remove land from the Greenbelt in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville last fall, according to the province's integrity commissioner.
Rasheed, Massoudi and Jae Truesdell — at the time in the private sector but who now serves as Ford's director of housing policy — told the integrity commissioner they went to Las Vegas in December 2019. Rasheed and Massoudi "briefly encountered" Rehmatullah there, they said.
Massoudi told the integrity commissioner he had only met Rehmatullah a handful of times, including at the wedding of Ford's daughter. Rasheed said he and Rehmatullah are close friends and Rasheed's wife worked for the developer.
Rehmatullah said he was in Las Vegas in December 2019 and late January to early February 2020 and recalled seeing Rasheed in a hotel lobby on one of the trips.
CTV News reported this week that Rasheed, Rehmatullah and Massoudi got massages on Feb. 1, 2020 at the same Las Vegas hotel spa. A spokesperson for Rasheed told the outlet the trip was originally booked for December 2019 but got rescheduled and Rasheed "mistakenly" shared incorrect information with the integrity commissioner based on the original itinerary.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rasheed, who served as Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, said he will continue to serve his constituents.
"While incredibly difficult, this decision was made so as not to distract from the important work of the government," he said in the statement, adding he will "take the steps required" to clear his name.
In a separate statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said himself and Rasheed have "agreed" to the resignation, effective immediately.
"If Mr. Rasheed can clear his name through the Office of the Integrity Commissioner, he will be provided an opportunity to return to caucus," reads Ford's statement.
"A new Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery will be named in the coming days."
Rasheed's resignation comes on the heels of another resignation, that of Housing Minister Steve Clark, who stepped down after weeks of pushback from political opponents over his involvement in the Greenbelt controversy. Weeks earlier, Clark's chief of staff Ryan Amato, who played a key role in choosing and opening up Greenbelt land for housing development, resigned as well.
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