Premier Kathleen Wynne is defending a controversial $100,000 fundraiser held by privately owned Bruce Power for her Liberals, saying “it takes money to fuel the democratic process.”

In the wake of revelations in the Star that the firm’s president and CEO Duncan Hawthorne hosted the Sept. 10 dinner just before the government shelved publicly owned Ontario Power Generation’s new $15-billion nuclear reactors, Wynne stressed nothing untoward happened.

“All of the parties fundraise — that is the reality,” the premier said in an interview Thursday.

“One of the things that I always say at fundraisers is I thank the people in the room for taking part in an aspect of the democratic process that not everybody has access to or chooses to or can take part in,” she said

“It is part of the democratic process — it takes money to fuel the democratic process. That’s just the reality. It takes money to do this work.”

Asked if she were concerned that there may be a perception that the government is for sale, Wynne said firmly: “No.”

Still, the timing of the dinner at Four Seasons Hotel, which was attended by about a dozen energy industry players and brought in about $100,000 to party coffers, could be politically problematic for the Liberals.

On Oct. 10, the government announced it would not proceed with building new nuclear reactors, but was continuing with the refurbishment of reactors at Bruce and at OPG’s Darlington station.

In light of that, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “the optics are very, very bad.”

“There’s no doubt that all parties do fundraisers — the difference is do you do a fundraiser with a particular . . . sector and then suddenly your policy changes within the next couple of days? That’s what raises eyebrows and that’s the concern,” said Howarth.

Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod (Nepean—Carleton) said while she doesn’t “begrudge” politicians fundraising, the dinner highlights the Liberals’ ad hoc approach to policy-making.

“Where I do have a problem is the fact that Kathleen Wynne consistently changes her plan. She has no coherent plan for energy so it’s almost as if she listens to the last person she spoke to,” said MacLeod.

The fundraiser was held against the backdrop of a push by some proponents for Bruce Power to take over OPG’s existing Darlington nuclear station and oversee the reactors’ refurbishment there and at Kincardine.

Hawthorne was not available for comment, but Bruce Power, which did not respond to an email Thursday from the Star, posted an unsigned statement on the firm’s website about the article.

“This morning, the Toronto Star released a story regarding political contributions made by Bruce Power. Like many companies and organizations across the province, Bruce Power has a policy of donating to all major political parties in the province including the New Democratic Party, Progressive Conservative Party and the Ontario Liberal Party,” the statement read.

“Bruce Power has . . . held the public position for a number of years that the province should focus on the refurbishment of the existing units at Bruce and Darlington first, as opposed to progressing with a first-of-a-kind new build at this time. Output from refurbished nuclear is very cost-competitive and with the experience over the last 10 years the future program will not be first-of-a-kind,” the company continued.

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The statement emphasized the firm’s “position on these issues is no secret to anyone in the energy sector and has been on the public record for some time.”

“It’s disappointing that with so many pressing issues facing the province this is the focus of discussion. While this is outside of Bruce Power’s control, the company will continue to communicate the positive role we plan to play in the province for many years to come and will continue to participate in the democratic process in donating to Ontario’s three main political parties.”

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