Premier Doug Ford has lost a second cabinet minister to the growing $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal, plunging his government deeper into chaos and crisis on the eve of the legislature鈥檚 return.
Kaleed Rasheed quit Wednesday as minister of public and business service delivery over questions about information given to provincial integrity commissioner J. David Wake during an ethics investigation into former municipal affairs and housing minister Steve Clark, who resigned Labour Day.
Rasheed鈥檚 office provided the wrong dates for a winter 2020 trip to Las Vegas, where he encountered his developer friend Shakir Rehmatullah 鈥 who attended the wedding of Ford鈥檚 daughter and who Wake believes was 鈥渕ore likely than not鈥 tipped by someone to the government鈥檚 plans to remove lands from the Greenbelt.
Also on the trip were Ford鈥檚 principal secretary at the time, Amin Massoudi, and Jae Truesdell, now the premier鈥檚 director of housing policy, according to Wake鈥檚 probe.
鈥淧remier Ford and MPP Kaleed Rasheed have agreed that Mr. Rasheed would resign from cabinet and the Ontario PC caucus, effective immediately,鈥 said a brief statement from the premier鈥檚 office.
鈥淚f Mr. Rasheed can clear his name through the Office of the Integrity Commissioner, he will be provided an opportunity to return to caucus,鈥 added the statement, saying a new minister of public and business service delivery will be appointed 鈥渋n the coming days.鈥
While the statement did not go into detail, a government insider speaking confidentially to discuss internal deliberations told the Star 鈥渨e expect people to remember the month they took a trip.鈥
鈥淭here are generally a lot of questions not answered in light of what was said about what happened,鈥 the insider added.
Rasheed (Mississauga East-Cooksville) wrote on social media that he resigned to sit as an Independent MPP 鈥渟o as not to distract from the important work of the government.鈥
New Democratic Party Leader Marit Stiles said the possibility Rasheed misled the integrity commissioner is 鈥渞eally troubling, it鈥檚 very serious, and Ontarians have a right to demand more and better from their government.鈥
鈥淲hat鈥檚 missing here is the premier himself coming clean about what he knows, what connection he has to the developers who benefited and the speculators who benefited from these land deals,鈥 she told reporters.
In a damning Aug. 30 report, the integrity commissioner found Clark violated the Members鈥 Integrity Act by not properly supervising a top aide who personally selected 14 of 15 parcels of land to be removed from the Greenbelt.
The process bypassed advice from politically neutral civil servants and 鈥渇avoured certain developers,鈥 auditor general Bonnie Lysyk determined in a separate report on Aug. 9.
Rasheed鈥檚 resignation follows reporting on CTV and by The Trillium raising questions about the timeline of the Las Vegas trip.
In his report, Wake says Rasheed acknowledged being 鈥渃lose friends鈥 with Rehmatullah and said he was 鈥渟hocked鈥 to see him in Las Vegas in December 2019 when they ran into each other in a hotel. The friendship is such that Rasheed put in place an 鈥渆thics screen鈥 in December 2021 on advice from Wake because his wife worked for Rehmatullah.
Rasheed鈥檚 office told CTV that the trip had been planned for early December but was postponed to Jan. 30, 2020. The network reported that Rasheed, Massoudi and Rehmatullah had massages at the same time in the hotel on Feb. 1.
Wake鈥檚 report noted Rehmatullah is 鈥渢he only developer who had lands removed from the Greenbelt who attended the premier鈥檚 daughter鈥檚 wedding鈥 and found it 鈥渜uestionable鈥 that 鈥渘o one connected to government let him know that the government was considering changes to the Greenbelt boundary.鈥
The integrity commissioner added: 鈥淚dentifying who it might have been is more difficult 鈥 but I find it is more likely than not that someone did.鈥
Clark鈥檚 resignation on a holiday Monday two weeks ago took the premier鈥檚 office by surprise and prompted a cabinet shuffle. Clark remains an MPP in the Progressive Conservative caucus.
The abrupt departure of Rasheed is bad timing for Ford, with MPPs returning to Queen鈥檚 Park for the start of the fall session Monday and opposition parties brimming with questions about the scandal.
鈥淚t is important to remember that both Doug Ford鈥檚 former principal secretary, Amin Massoudi, and the current director of housing in the premier鈥檚 office, Jae Truesdell, were both on the same trip to Las Vegas that is at the centre of Minister Rasheed鈥檚 removal from cabinet and caucus,鈥 said interim Liberal leader John Fraser.
A second cabinet resignation is 鈥渁 sign of deep problems within the Ford government,鈥 he added.
A spokesperson for the integrity commissioner鈥檚 office said they are aware of Rasheed鈥檚 resignation but have not received a request to investigate allegations that he contravened ethics legislation.
An MPP 鈥渨ho has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that another MPP has contravened (the Members鈥 Integrity Act) or Ontario parliamentary convention鈥 can make such a request, said communications manager Michelle Renaud.
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:
Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request.
There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again.
You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our and . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google and apply.
Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation