Ontario minister Kaleed Rasheed resigns after Greenbelt probe

The still-smoldering Greenbelt scandal has toppled another member of the Ford government with MPP Kaleed Rasheed resigning from cabinet and the Ontario PC caucus effective immediately.

Rasheed, who was Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario, stepped down on Wednesday after questions surrounding a trip he took to Las Vegas at the same time as a developer who owns land that was removed from the Greenbelt.

Media reports said developer Shakir Rehmatullah, who benefited from the recent Greenbelt land swap, went to Las Vegas at the same time as Rasheed, Ford’s principal secretary, as well as his current housing policy director, who was in the private sector at the time.

Rasheed and the two staffers told the integrity commissioner they encountered Rehmatullah there but went on separate trips, but reports surfaced that Rasheed, Rehmatullah and the principal secretary booked massages for the same time.

Rasheed said he made the “incredibly difficult” decision to resign in order to not distract from the government’s work.

“I look forward to taking the steps required to clear my name with the Integrity Commissioner so that I can return to the Ontario PC team as soon as possible,” he wrote in a statement, noting he’d continue serving as the MPP for Mississauga East-Cooksville.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford accepted his resignation but left a door open for his possible return to caucus.

“If Mr. Rasheed can clear his name through the Office of the Integrity Commissioner, he will be provided an opportunity to return to caucus,” Ford’s office said in a statement.

“A new Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery will be named in the coming days.”

Earlier this month Ontario’s housing minister, Steve Clark, resigned after a damning report from the integrity commissioner found he violated ethics rules when the province opened up parts of the protected Greenbelt for development.

Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, also stepped down after an integrity commissioner’s report found he was the driving force behind the land swap that benefited certain developers.

Last year, the province took about 2,995 hectares of land out of the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes and replaced them with about 3,804 hectares elsewhere.

The moves were part of the government’s pledge to address the housing crisis by promising to build 1.5 million homes over 10 years.

The RCMP is reviewing information to determine whether it should investigate the Greenbelt land swap. Ford has said he is confident nothing criminal took place.