Type of Generic seems worthless

Please see the code below:

Public Function ExecuteDynamicQuery(Of T As New)(ByVal sql As String, ByVal type As T) As List(Of T) Implements IGenie.ExecuteDynamicQuery
            Dim iConnectionBLL As iConnectionBLL = New clsConnectionBLL
            Dim paramValues() As DbParameter = New clsParameterValues().getParameterValues()
            Using conn As DbConnection = iConnectionBLL.getDatabaseTypeByDescription("Genie2"), _
                  rdr As DbDataReader = clsDatabaseHelper.ExecuteReader(conn, CommandType.Text, sql, paramValues)
                Dim list As List(Of T) = New List(Of T)
                While rdr.Read()
                    Dim hello As New T
                    Dim method As MethodInfo = GetType(clsType).GetMethod("PopulateDataReader")
                    method.Invoke(hello, New Object() {rdr})
                    list.Add(hello)
                End While

                Return list
            End Using
        End Function

Is there a way of executing the SQL statement above without passing in type as an arguement. It seems a bit pointless - the only reason it is there is to let the function know the type of the generic.