LONDON, Ont. - Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's not going to ask his infrastructure minister to excuse himself from future funding decisions about his former client, Algonquin College.

Bob Chiarelli lobbied for the Ottawa college from 2007 until last January, before he won a seat in the legislature.

McGuinty says even though he opposes lobbying by publicly funded institutions, he won't ask Chiarelli to step aside on decisions regarding Algonquin.

The college received $35 million from the Ontario government in 2008 to create 600 more student spaces.

Chiarelli, a longtime Liberal and former Ottawa mayor, also broke ground as minister on a separate, $10-million project last month.

Both McGuinty and Chiarelli insist that all the rules were followed, but opposition critics say the optics are terrible.