Nov 10
2
Utilities hand over ratepayer money to Daddy Dalton’s Liberal Party
Windsor Star – November 2, 2010
Utility’s political donations questioned
Cash from Essex Power used in Toronto-area byelection
By Gary Rennie
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath skewered the Liberal government and cabinet ministers like Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Dwight Duncan on Monday for taking donations from public energy utilities, including Essex Power. The local utility’s money for two $950 tickets to a Liberal party fundraiser ended up being spent on a Toronto-area byelection, according to party records filed with Elections Ontario naming contributors over $100. A $204 utility cheque went to Duncan’s riding association.
That surprised some Essex Power board members, such as Leamington Mayor John Adams. He was unaware of the donations and the reasons for them. “I don’t think it was proper,” he said. Adams couldn’t recall any board discussion about donations to a party, and thought there should have been one.
Essex Power CEO Ray Tracey and board chairman Gary McNamara, the mayor of Tecumseh, said most of the money cited by the NDP went to buy two $950 tickets to a Liberal party annual dinner in Toronto in February. “For us to stay in the game, we have to spend a bit of money,” said McNamara, a Liberal, who went with Tracey to the February dinner. Tracey said Essex Power wanted discussions with several ministers about the direction of government policy on green energy and conservation initiatives, since the utility was investing heavily in those areas.
Smaller amounts were also paid since 2007 to attend a few other party or riding functions to which the utility sent representatives as a form of “networking,” Tracey explained. “This is not a regular occurrence,” Tracey said. “It’s important we have a voice.”
McNamara said he had no idea money from the February dinner would end up being used for party expenses in a byelection. The money for the tickets came out of approved budgets for travel, and didn’t require a separate board approval, McNamara said. The nine-member board typically meets about four times a year. But even with the explanation from the CEO and McNamara about the purpose of going to the Liberal event, Adams wasn’t convinced he’d approve such spending if it came to the board first. As a mayor, Adams said he relies on making appointments with ministers to ask questions or lobby for municipal projects and doesn’t buy tickets to see them.