NDP call for further investigation into Las Vegas trip taken by former Ford minister, developer

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles says what happened in Las Vegas should not stay in Las Vegas. She’s filed a request with the integrity commissioner to further investigate the details of a 2020 trip involving a former Ford cabinet minister, the premier’s former principal secretary and a land developer.

MPP Kaleed Rasheed stepped down in September as Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario after questions arose following his trip to Las Vegas in January 2020 at the same time as a developer who owns land that had been removed from the Greenbelt for development.

Rasheed and two other staffers initially told the integrity commissioner they had encountered Shakir Rehmatullah, founder and president of Markham, Ont.,-based Flato Developments, while in Las Vegas but that both were on separate trips. However, reports surfaced that Rasheed, Rehmatullah and Ford’s principal secretary, Amin Massoudi, booked massages for the same time.

In her letter addressed to Integrity Commissioner David Wake, Stiles says she is “alarmed by the lack of transparency” by the government members and a “pattern of preferential treatment” towards developers.

“We believe that what happened in Vegas, should not stay in Vegas,” Stiles told media gathered at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

“We want to give the integrity commissioner now an opportunity …to shine some light on what really took place here – on the dates, the details, and the payments that took place. “

Rasheed welcomes an investigation by the integrity commissioner and “will fully co-operate to clear the record and his name of any wrongdoing,” his lawyer Joseph Markson said.

“It has been disheartening for Mr. Rasheed to witness the facts of this matter be distorted for political gain,” said Markson.

“Mr. Rasheed has submitted additional records to the integrity commissioner and looks forward to dispelling any allegations of misconduct in a timely manner, so he can return to government and continue to serve the people of Ontario.”

The Ford government has since tabled legislation to reverse the controversial Greenbelt land swap after a public outcry and reports from legislative watchdogs that found the selection process favoured certain developers.

The RCMP is investigating the government’s decision to open up the Greenbelt to development.

Aside from the Vegas trip and the attempted changes to the Greenbelt, Stiles notes Rehmatullah has also been the beneficiary of numerous Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZO), which allow the government to overrule local municipalities and push through development.

“These matters articulate what appears to be a pattern of preferential treatment given to a select few developers as it relates to government land-use policy, particularly Mr. Rehmatullah,” writes Stiles. “The Auditor General has noted in previous reports that a lack of transparency in the criteria of issuing MZOs opens the process to criticisms of conflict of interest and unfairness.”

The Auditor General’s office recently launched its own investigation into MZOs.

While Premier Doug Ford accepted Rasheed’s resignation in September he left the door open for a possible return to caucus if “Mr. Rasheed can clear his name through the Office of the Integrity Commissioner,” he said in a statement.

Housing Minister Paul Calandra says the government supports the NDP’s request to the integrity commissioner to investigate.

“The premier has been clear to all of us: we will assist to the fullest extent on this and anything else,” he said.

The Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario confirmed it received the request to investigate.

“The request will be reviewed in accordance with the office’s procedure,” said Michelle Renaud, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario.

She added the request will take into account a section of the Members Integrity Act that states: “If the commissioner, when conducting an inquiry, discovers that the subject matter of the inquiry is being investigated by police or that a charge has been laid, the commissioner shall suspend the inquiry until the police investigation or charge has been finally disposed of, and shall report the suspension to the speaker.”

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report