Ontario cabinet Minister Kaleed Rasheed refused to answer questions on Wednesday about a trip sources say he took to Las Vegas in 2020 with a developer he's called a "dear friend" whose company has benefited from multiple of the Progressive Conservative government's decisions, including the Greenbelt land swap.
As The Trillium reported on June 29, information provided by multiple independent sources, including ones in the government, linked to it, and unassociated with it, indicated that Rasheed, Premier Doug Ford's then-principal secretary Amin Massoudi, and Shakir Rehmatullah were in Las Vegas in February 2020. These sources were granted anonymity to protect them against reprisal.
Neither Massoudi nor Rasheed denied going on an early 2020 Las Vegas trip with Rehmatullah when asked. Rehmatullah didn't respond to questions The Trillium sent him days before publishing a story about the trip two weeks ago.
Both Massoudi and Rasheed said they'd never gone on trips paid for by Rehmatullah. His company Flato Developments and others affiliated with it have since received at least five minister's zoning orders to speed up development projects. One of his companies, Flato Upper Markham Village Inc., owns land that the Ford government took out of the Greenbelt late last year for homes to be built on.
Wednesday morning was the first time since the Las Vegas story was published on June 29 that Rasheed has taken reporters' questions at an open media availability. At it, the PC MPP for Mississauga East—Cooksville since 2018, who's been a minister in Ford's cabinet since June 2021, would not answer questions The Trillium asked stemming from its reporting on the trip.
"I stand by my statement," Rasheed repeated in response to questions about whether he considers it appropriate for senior members of the government to go on personal trips with stakeholders who've benefited from its decisions, and if he's been in touch with Ontario's integrity commissioner about the trip. The full exchange can be seen here.
The statement Rasheed was referring to was sent by his spokesperson by email on June 28 and addressed neither the appropriateness of the trip nor any contact he'd had with Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake's office, the latter of which The Trillium had asked about.
The full statement said: "Minister Rasheed has never taken a trip paid by Mr. Rehmatullah. Minister Rasheed also has an ethics screen on any government decisions related to Mr. Rehmatullah and his companies."
An ethics screen is a set of procedures established for someone in the government, such as a cabinet minister, to keep them from being involved in dealings that could impact the business of a spouse, family member, or close friend.
Rasheed's office did not answer a follow-up email on June 28 when asked if he paid for the 2020 Las Vegas trip himself.
On the same date, Ontario's integrity commissioner's spokesperson wouldn't say whether anyone involved in the trip reported it to their office, or if Rasheed had sought an official opinion from the commissioner about its appropriateness, as MPPs can do in such circumstances. Wake's office's operations are carefully shaped by five different laws that significantly limit what it can disclose about its work outside of reports it publishes.
After Rasheed shot down questions, The Trillium asked his staff in person and by email on Wednesday if he'd been contacted by the integrity commissioner, or vice-versa, about the 2020 Las Vegas trip. His office did not answer before this story was published.
