EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
MPP Kaleed Rasheed, a former cabinet minister in the Ford government, announced Friday he will not run for re-election.
His announcement comes more than a year since he resigned as minister of public and business service delivery after admitting to giving Ontario's integrity commissioner incorrect information about a Las Vegas trip involving a Greenbelt developer. He has sat as an independent in the House since September of 2023.
The month after, the RCMP revealed it was investigating the government's Greenbelt scandal. Multiple sources with sight lines into the investigation have told The Trillium that investigators have taken an interest in the 2020 Las Vegas trip — and, specifically, the developer, Shakir Rehmatullah.
The Trillium first reported on the trip and the inaccuracies in the information Rasheed, and other participants of the trip, gave to the commissioner while under oath.
Our stories from June 29 and July 24, 2023 said that in early 2020, Rasheed was in Las Vegas with Rehmatullah, Amin Massoudi, and Jae Truesdell, according to information from multiple independent sources in the government, linked to it, and unassociated with it. These sources were granted anonymity to protect them from reprisal.
Rehmatullah owns Flato Developments and has benefited from multiple decisions by the Ford government, including several minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) to fast-track developments, and its Greenbelt removals.
Massoudi was Premier Doug Ford’s principal secretary at the time and now runs a lobbying business, Atlas Strategic Advisors Inc.
At the time of the 2020 Las Vegas trip, Truesdell was working in the private sector in between stints as a staffer in the Ford government. He later became housing policy director in the premier’s office. He resigned from his position in the premier's office just before Ford announced the government was returning the land it removed from the Greenbelt to the protected area.
The three Ford-government-connected men said they only had a chance meeting with Rehmatullah. However, reporting by CTV said that Rasheed, Massoudi and Rehmatullah all, at the same time, had massages at the hotel they stayed at.
Rasheed's announcement about his exit from the legislature mentioned none of these circumstances.
Instead, he wrote of his gratitude for the chance to serve as minister and his accomplishments in the digital government file.
"Throughout my tenure, I have had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented and dedicated colleagues under inspiring leadership. The experience has been nothing short of transformative. As I step away from public office, I carry with me countless cherished memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to the next chapter with the same spirit of service and dedication that has guided me thus far," he wrote.
Rasheed said he will serve out his term as MPP for Mississauga East—Cooksville.
