Huge political donations by forest companies to the B.C. Liberal Party are compelling reasons for electoral finance reform in B.C., New Democrat MLA Bob Simpson says.

Elections B.C. filings show that over the past decade, the B.C. Liberals got close to $6.5 million in political donations from forestry companies, including all of the companies involved in the controversy surrounding the release of Tree Farm License lands.

“When people look at these donation numbers from the forest sector and then see how the Campbell government’s forest policy favors large corporate interests over smaller operators, contractors, workers and communities, it’s very hard for people not to wonder if this large sum of money influenced public policy,” said Simpson, the NDP Critic for Forests and Range.

Since 2003, over 120,000 hectares of land has been released from Tree Farm Licenses. The major forest companies have also been paid over $250 million by the Liberal government in cash compensation for the take back of harvesting rights on publicly owned forest lands.

“The Leader of the Opposition has called on Gordon Campbell to ban corporate and union donations and put reasonable limits on third-party donations. The public’s questions about the relationship between political donations and favorable public policy decisions for the forest sector are yet another compelling reason to reform our election finance laws as soon as possible.”

Simpson said he isn't drawing a direct correlation between the donations and the release of lands or the large sum of money paid out to forest companies over the past three years. But he says that workers, contractors and communities are expressing concerns to him about the relationship.

“Quite frankly, people are telling me they believe there’s a connection and they feel that’s why the needs of independent operators, contractors and workers are being ignored by the Campbell government,” said Simpson. “In a progressive society we shouldn’t still be wondering if money buys influence over our democratic process. There’s an easy fix to this: reform our election finance laws.”