By Staff
October 18th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Marit Stiles, the Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, submitted a request to the Integrity Commissioner this morning, asking him to investigate whether former Conservative cabinet minister Kaleed Rasheed broke the Members’ Integrity Act when he and two of Ford’s senior advisors jetted off to Las Vegas with a Greenbelt land speculator.
Kaleed Rasheed. former Cabinet Minister
“Mr. Rasheed’s story on what happened in Las Vegas has changed many times,” Stiles said. “And every new piece of information raises more questions than answers, but all suggest a pattern of preferential treatment.”
Rasheed gave up his cabinet post and resigned from the Conservative caucus after reports surfaced that he and Ford’s advisors provided incorrect testimony to the Integrity Commissioner on their now-infamous trip to Las Vegas with developer Shakir Rehmatullah. Knowingly lying under oath is known as perjury in Canada’s Criminal Code.
“People are frustrated with how expensive life has become and with a government that is choosing not to do a thing about it,” Stiles said. “They’re angry that Ontario has a corrupt government that has brought back a cash-for-access culture at Queen’s Park.”
“Step by step, we’re going to put an end to it.”
BACKGROUND:
THE BOYS ARE (BACK IN) IN VEGAS
- In June 2023, an investigation from The Trillium revealed that former Conservative Minister and MPP for Mississauga East—Cooksville went to Las Vegas with Greenbelt developer Shakir Remtullah
- In August 2023, the Office of the Integrity Commissioner reviewed this trip as a part of his larger investigation into former Conservative Housing Minister Steve Clark, who resigned the following month after the report concluded he violated the Member’s Integrity Act.
- Khaleed Rasheed’s trip to Las Vegas included prominent developer Shakir Rehmatullah, former Conservative Principal Secretary, Amin Massoudi, and Jae Truesdell, the government’s former housing policy
- Rasheed, Massoudi, and Truesdell all provided incorrect testimonies on the dates of this trip; they all said the trip was in 2019, when it really was in
- All three corrected their record with the integrity commissioner once the media reported evidence to the contrary, which raises serious concerns.
- Rasheed claimed to the Integrity Commissioner that he was only in Vegas once since being elected – in December, 2019. However, reports later showed that not only was he not there in 2019 (he was in fact there in 2020), but also that he had another trip in February, 2023.
- Rasheed provided banking records to show proof of repayment for the trip show a deposit of $2,000 on December 20, 2019, which would have been prior to the trip and prior to any reported repayments from either Mr. Massoudi or Mr. Truesdell. The amount does not match the amounts that Mr. Massoudi and Mr. Truesdell indicated they provided to Mr. Rasheed. This was also documented by media reports. This raises more questions.
- Rehmatullah has a documented history of preferential treatment from the Ford government. As the developer who made one of the most significant gains in the now reversed Greenbelt grab, the details of this trip is necessary to understand whether Mr. Rehmatullah received or provided information that led to government policy changes for his own material benefit.
- Page 106, paragraph 421 of the Integrity Commissioner’s report on former Housing Minister Steve Clark: “On the evidence, I am unable to make a definitive finding as to what or who prompted Rehmatullah in the Fall of 2022 to take the steps he did to request that his small piece of land and the land of two of his fellow members of a landowners group be removed from the Greenbelt. But I find it is more likely than not that someone did.”
- Did a sitting Conservative Minister intentionally lie to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner? Was there patronage or inappropriate gifting in this Vegas trip? And what does it reveal about the Greenbelt land swap?
