What happens in Vegas apparently doesn鈥檛 stay in Vegas.
The hangover from a disgraced ex-minister鈥檚 controversial sojourn to Las Vegas is dogging the embattled Progressive Conservatives as fallout continues from the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal that has triggered the resignations of two cabinet members and two key political aides.
Premier Doug Ford faced new questions Tuesday about former minister Kaleed Rasheed鈥檚 winter 2020 trip to the desert gambling hot spot with Ford鈥檚 former principal secretary, Amin Massoudi, and Jae Truesdell, who resigned last week as the premier鈥檚 director of housing policy.
As detailed in a report by integrity commissioner J. David Wake, the trio gave incorrect dates for the journey under oath and maintained their encounter there with developer Shakir Rehmatullah 鈥 who in years to follow attended Ford鈥檚 daughter鈥檚 wedding and had property removed from the Greenbelt 鈥 was by chance.
But they all had massages booked in the spa of a posh hotel at the same time on Feb. 1 of that year, CTV reported last week. Rasheed resigned as minister of public and business service delivery the next day and quit the PC caucus to sit as an Independent MPP.
鈥淪hould the people of Ontario accept that government policy was being decided on a massage table in Vegas?鈥 NDP Leader Marit Stiles asked Ford in the legislature鈥檚 daily question period.
鈥淐an the premier explain how three different people could mistakenly give the wrong date for the same trip?鈥 Stiles added, pointing to other details in the Wake report about discrepancies over who paid how much for the trip with cash transfers.
鈥淭heir Vegas story is not adding up 鈥 the premier鈥檚 former minister paid $4,550 in cash for three flights to Vegas, but no one could provide clear proof just how, when or if the balance for the trip was repaid in full.鈥
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra insisted the integrity commissioner is looking into the discrepancies over the dates and amounts with 鈥渁dditional information鈥 provided by Rasheed.
But spokesperson Michelle Renaud from Wake鈥檚 office told the Star 鈥渢he commissioner has not received a request (under the Members鈥 Integrity Act) on this matter.鈥
Stiles said the New Democrats are preparing a request.
Wake鈥檚 initial investigation sparked the resignation of Steve Clark as minister of municipal affairs and housing on Labour Day, forcing Ford into the first of two cabinet shuffles this month.
The probe found Rehmatullah was 鈥渕ore likely than not鈥 tipped to the government鈥檚 plans to open up the Greenbelt for housing 鈥 making any lands far more valuable 鈥 but was not able to ascertain who gave the word.
Ford bristled at the suggestions from Stiles and did not directly answer another question on whether he believes 鈥渁ny of his ministers or staff鈥 may have given inside information to the developer.
鈥淚t was very clear that the integrity commissioner cleared myself and cleared my office,鈥 said the premier, who last Thursday scrapped his plan to remove 7,400 acres from the protected Greenbelt zone and apologized for the way the debacle was handled.
鈥淭he auditor general cleared myself and cleared my office,鈥 Ford continued in reference to an Aug. 9 report from Bonnie Lysyk that found the process to select lands to be removed from the Greenbelt 鈥渇avoured certain developers鈥 but concluded Clark鈥檚 chief of staff Ryan Amato 鈥 who resigned Aug. 22 鈥 personally selected 14 of 15 parcels, bypassing advice from neutral civil servants.
Stiles called that a 鈥渟elective interpretation鈥 of the reports.
鈥淭here鈥檚 plenty in there that raises questions and, frankly, points to the premier鈥檚 office鈥檚 involvement in some of the conversations and decisions that were made about these lands,鈥 she told reporters later.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty clear that the government doesn鈥檛 want to provide answers or get to the bottom of what鈥檚 taking place.鈥
In his report, Wake said the 鈥渇anciful connection鈥 between Rehmatullah and Ford is 鈥渘ot sufficient鈥 to conclude the premier tipped the developer.
鈥淢r. Rehmatullah has a number of contacts in and out of government who may have been aware of the government鈥檚 potential change in policy relating to the Greenbelt,鈥 he wrote.
Following a referral from the Ontario Provincial Police to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, the RCMP鈥檚 sensitive and international investigations unit is determining whether to investigate 鈥渋rregularities鈥 in regard to the Greenbelt land swap, but has not returned repeated calls from the Star.
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:
Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:
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