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The Harper government, seeking to counter the impression it's favouring Conservative ridings with infrastructure stimulus dollars, is showcasing one program where projects overwhelmingly benefit opposition constituencies.

The Building Canada infrastructure program is not a new program set up as part of this year's stimulus spending but an older one that has seen its disbursements accelerated in order to produce more immediate impact.

Calculations released by Infrastructure Minister John Baird's office show that the Building Canada program has awarded $403.9-million in infrastructure projects to Conservative ridings since January, the month the stimulus budget was unveiled.

For the sake of comparisons, this works out to $2.82-million per Tory riding. The Conservatives have 143 seats.

By comparison, since January, the Building Canada fund has funnelled $753.9-billion to ridings held by the Liberals, NDP or Bloc Quebecois. Again, to compare, this amounts to $4.6-million for each of 165 opposition ridings.

One reason for this disparity is that the Building Canada program funds primarily projects in big urban centres, where opposition parties hold many seats.

This imbalance in favour of opposition riding persists over a longer period, too. Since 2007 the Building Canada has funded $1.4-billion in projects in Liberal, NDP or Bloc ridings while it has only allocated $436.4-million to Conservative ridings.

The Tories have previously not released riding-by-riding comparisons, saying they do not track spending by constituency or allocate money that way.

The Conservatives have been unhappy with a series of media reports that concluded there was a Conservative bias after analyzing infrastructure projects awarded by one fund or a series of stimulus programs.

The Tories say the only way to get a true measure of the fairness of allocations is to examine all projects, which exceed 6,500 in number. They have so far resisted requests to break these projects down by riding, saying their focus is instead of doling out money.

“Our focus is on working to get projects approved and working with the provinces and municipalities on their priorities,” Baird spokesman Chris Day said.

“That's entirely what we're focused on.” The Harper government says that while Tory ridings may receiving more cash under one program, other funds – such as the Building Canada initiative or the Knowledge Infrastructure Program – will tend to benefit opposition ridings. Again, that's because both these funds are focused on big urban centres where Liberals, NDP and Bloc MPs generally hold more seats.

List of Building Canada projects since 2007:

• Projects in Conservative ridings since 2007: $436.36-million.
• Projects in Conservative ridings since January budget: $403.87-million.
• Projects in opposition ridings since 2007: $1.426-billion.
• Projects in opposition ridings since January budget: $753.94-million.

Conservative ridings:

• Cambridge Performing Arts Complex, Cambridge, Ont.: $6-million, Feb. 1, 2008.
• Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Burlington, Ont.: $1.5-million, March 17, 2008.
• Niagara Centre for the Arts, St. Catharines, Ont.: $18-million, May 22, 2009.
• Strandherd Bridge, Ottawa: $23.4-million, June 5, 2009.
• Cornwall Wastewater Treatment, Cornwall, Ont.: $18.5-million, June 19, 2009.
• Highway 17 twinning, Kenora, Ont.: $50-million, May 15, 2009.
• Owen Sound Primary Sewage Upgrade, Owen Sound, Ont.: $15-million, June 12, 2009.
• Halton Region Wastewater Treatment, Halton Region Conservation Authority: $51.5-million, June 15, 2009.
• South Dundas (Iroquois) Primary Sewage Upgrades, Township of South Dundas: $9-million, June 24, 2009.
• Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant, Regional Municipality of Durham: $46.67-million, Aug. 4, 2009.
• Eastern Ontario Regional Broadband Network, Eastern Ontario: $55-million, July 30, 2009.
• Event and Training Centre, Clarence-Rockland, Ont.: $6.8-million, July 7, 2009.
• Highway 8 Enhancement, Waterloo, Ont.: $35-million, June 15, 2009.
• Huron-Elgin London Project Clean Water, southwestern Ontario: $24.99-million, or 50 per cent assigned to Tory ridings, with the other 50 per cent assigned to opposition, Oct. 15, 2007.
• GO Transit Package, Greater Toronto Area: $75-million, or 30 per cent assigned to Tory ridings, with the other 70 per cent assigned to opposition, Feb. 17, 2009.

Opposition Ridings:

• Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa: $50-million, Nov. 15, 2007.
• Queen's University Performing Arts Centre, Kingston, Ont.: $15-million, May 13, 2009.
• Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, Toronto: $622-million, March 6, 2007.
• Union Station Revitalization, Toronto: $133-million, July 24, 2009.
• Sheppard Light Rail Transit, Toronto: $333-million, May 15, 2009.
• Highway 69 improvements, Sudbury, Ont.: $35.8-million, May 30, 2009.
• Nipigon Wastewater Treatment, Township of Nipigon: $3.45-million, June 15, 2009.
• Timmins Wastewater Treatment, Timmins, Ont.: $19.83-million, June 16, 2009.
• Red Rock Wastewater Treatment, Township of Red Rock: $4.5-million, June 15, 2009.
• Ottawa Combined Sewer Collection, part 1, Ottawa: $9.37-million, June 12, 2009.
• Go Transit Package, Greater Toronto Area: $175-million, or 70 per cent assigned to opposition ridings, Feb. 17, 2009.
• Huron Elgin London Project Clean Water: $24.99-million, or 50 per cent assigned to opposition ridings, Oct. 15, 2007.