Highland a larger Liberal contributor

Donations are within election laws

By Chris Halliday Jul 27, 2011 - 5:29 PM

Since 2008, The Highland Companies, which plans to mine 2,316 acres of land for limestone in Melancthon, has added to the Central Liberal Party and its constituency associations coffers by about $35,000. The political donations came from Highland subsidiary corporations, 3191574 and 3218089 Nova Scotia Company Ltd., according to financial statements collected by Elections Ontario. Robert MacDermid, an associate professor of political science at York University, has spent years studying corporate contributions at both the municipal and provincial level. In his opinion, $35,000 is a significant amount of money changing hands between The Highland Companies and the Liberal party in the last four years. It would put them as one of the larger contributors, but not in the scale of some, MacDermid said. If I had to categorize it, I would say that is large, but it wouldnt be the size of RIM (Research in Motion). Each year, any person, corporation or trade union can contribute up to $9,300 to any provincial party, and up to $1,240 to any of its constituency associations, as long as the total doesnt exceed $6,200. During an election year, however, those limits double, allowing corporations to donate up to a total of $31,000, and if a byelection happens to be called that same year, corporations can contribute another $9,300. In a year with a general election and a byelection, they can make three contributions of $9,300, MacDermid said. When you add up the opportunities, it is somewhere around $30,000 or more, which is one of the highest limits in Canada. According to Christine McMillan, vice-president of communications for the Ontario Liberal Party, these monetary donations bear absolutely no weight on any decisions made at the government level. The Ontario Liberal Party, like all political parties, accepts donations according to the rules set out by Elections Ontario, McMillan said in an email. It has zero impact on government operations or decisions.

Lindsay Broadhead, spokesperson of The Highland Companies, said the lions share of those contributions to the Liberals came in the form of tickets to attend some of partys larger fundraising events. Highlands is but one of literally thousands of companies, unions and trade associations who have been invited to, and attended, various fundraising events held by major political parties, Broadhead said in an email. Such contributions to any political party are legal, transparent, and we believe, commendable. While many of its contributions to Liberal headquarters and constituencies from 2008 to 2011 were amounts less than $1,000, The Highland Companies gave $8,500 or more on three separate occasions. Those deposits included $9,000 and $8,500 for byelections in 2009 and 2010 respectively, as well as an annual donation of $9,300 deposited on Feb. 11 of this year. While MacDermid said it is rare for companies to donate to different parties, The Highland Companies has also given at least $10,420 to the Progressive Conservatives, including $9,300 deposited on Feb. 28. It is important that we understand the perspectives of the Official Opposition as well as the government, Broadhead said. It is important that they know something about Highland and our significant contributions to the provincial economy through our farming operations, and potentially in aggregates and other industries as well. Although it wasnt until 2010 The Highland Companies began contributing to the Tories, it has been a regular contributor to the Liberals since 2008. Since that time, The Highland Companies hasnt just made annual and byelection contributions to Liberal headquarters, it also gave $3,413 to two constituencies Toronto Centre and Scarborough Centre between 2008 and 2009. At that time, the Liberal MPP in Toronto Centre was George Smitherman, who served as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure from 2008 to 2009, and Brad Duguid in Scarborough Centre. Duguid, who was Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in 2009, was given the provinces energy and infrastructure portfolio in January 2010. When MacDermid noticed those contributions, he immediately thought of wind farms, an option The Highland Companies was in fact debating at the time of those contributions. It was no secret Highland was considering the economics of wind power in Ontario, Broadhead said, explaining it made sense to attend events to hear the ministers perspectives. The large scale infrastructure program being undertaken by the province of

Ontario in recent years (whose continuation is being pledged by all three major parties) is dependent on the availability of high quality aggregate, Broadhead noted. As ministers responsible for infrastructure planning, mutual understanding was in everyones interest. As Broadhead explained, contributing to political parties is The Highland Companies way to support the democratic process in a very transparent manner. During the last five years, we have become the largest private supporter of the Melancthon community, she added. At any rate, MacDermid would like to see corporate contributions vanish from the financial books of political parties. But with a provincial election on the horizon this October, he doesnt foresee the province granting his wishes anytime soon. I dont support corporate contributions, MacDermid said. It is really a good thing to draw it to the attention of voters and tell them who these people are supporting.