The top donors to the B.C. Liberal Party in the past decade are a well-heeled corporate coterie.

The top 20, which gave nearly $10 million to the Liberals from 2005 to 2012, include a who’s who of the mining, forestry, retail investment and building sectors, according to a detailed database constructed by The Vancouver Sun from Elections BC information. There’s also representation from resource sector suppliers, the oil and gas sector and the auto sales sector.

Corporate donors pumped $46 million into the Liberal Party coffers between 2005 and 2012.

There’s B.C. mining behemoth Teck Resources, at No. 1, which gave $1.7 million.

The New Car Dealers Association of B.C. was the second-largest contributor, giving $822,814.

Oil and natural gas giant Encana, based in Calgary but with extensive B.C. operations, provided $791,270 in third spot.

B.C.-based forestry giant West Fraser at No. 4, gave $656,325, and global miner Goldcorp contributed $565,700 in fifth spot.

In total, corporate donors accounted for about 60 per cent of the $76 million collected by the party in the eight-year period.

Why do these corporations give, and why so much?

The companies are circumspect about that, saying generally they support the party that supports the kind of business-friendly policies that help their companies and are good for the economy.

The companies in the top five that agreed to speak to The Sun said there were not any specific items they were seeking from their contributions, although the B.C. lobbying registry shows they have sought specifics from the Liberals.

Two of the companies — Teck Resources and Goldcorp — declined to be interviewed about their political contributions.

In a brief email response, Teck noted its donations are a matter of public record. “We support government policies that encourage job creation and economic growth for British Columbia communities,” said Teck spokesman Chris Stannell in the email.

Teck gave about $250,000 in each of the past four years.

The company is a large global player with ownership or an interest in 13 mines in Canada, the U.S., Chile and Peru. Many of its operations are in B.C., including five coal mines, a zinc mine and a copper mine. The company had sales of $10.3 billion and a profit of $780 million in 2012.

The public can get a sense of the areas that Teck has an interest in through its lobbying record of the B.C. Liberal government.

The company has sought to talk to government representatives about greenhouse gas reporting requirements, the province’s caribou strategy, the Mines Act permitting processes and the Environment Management Act, according to the province’s lobbying registry.

Also on Teck’s lobbying list was provincial funding for apprenticeship training, low carbon fuel requirements, provincial electricity rates and the Clean Energy Act.

Goldcorp did not directly respond to questions about its political donations. Instead, Goldcorp spokesman Christine Marks would only say in an email the company recognizes the importance of making charitable contributions in the communities in which it operates.

Goldcorp, whose headquarters are in Vancouver, has mines in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and South America but none in British Columbia.