Prime Minister Stephen Harper's electoral district association and two other riding associations in Calgary also flush with cash were at the centre of Conservative Party wealth transfers from Alberta to poor-cousin Tory associations in Ontario and Quebec in the past two elections, The Hill Times has learned.

Prime Minister Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) riding association, along with those of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.) and Conservative MP Rob Anders (Calgary West, Alta.) in Calgary, also set up massive phone banks with hundreds of volunteers in an attempt to sway voters in swing ridings in central Canada, Mr. Anders and his former riding association president say.

In 2007 and 2008, 12 Conservative federal electoral district associations in Alberta transferred a total of $604,000 to needy associations in other parts of the country. The cash went primarily to Conservatives in Ontario and Quebec, but also to Atlantic Canada and on a smaller scale to the Prairies and the Arctic. Mr. Harper's riding association alone transferred $195,000 to other districts.

Cash transfers also went to Conservative candidates in other ridings. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq (Nunavut), apparently with low levels of financial contributions in her own riding, received $15,000 from the Edmonton-Leduc Conservative association and $5,000 from the Peace River Tory association.

"Basically, there is a program to transfer money from wealthy ridings to less wealthy ridings," Andrew Constantinitis, the former president of Mr. Anders' riding association, told The Hill Times. "They're targeted, so the central [Conservative Party] group does help the 50 or so swing ridings that need funding, and arrange the wealthy ridings to transfer money to them."

The overwhelming financial and voter support the party receives in Calgary and other Alberta federal electoral districts—along with the related freedom to contest elections with a minimum of local campaign resources—results in mountains of surplus cash to spread to regions where Conservative donations are scarce.

The wealth transfers are an ironic contrast to one of the main complaints from the fledgling Wildrose Alliance Party in Alberta. Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith is campaigning against what she considers to be exorbitant wealth transfers from Alberta to poor regions through the federal tax system and social programs. The Wildrose Alliance is receiving strong support from members of Prime Minister Harper's federal Conservative Party in the province, including members of his own electoral district association. The only elected member of the Wildrose Party has his office across the hall from Mr. Harper's federal riding office.

The friendly Alberta environment for the federal Conservatives, especially in the three Calgary ridings, also frees up hundreds of volunteers to staff phone banks and talk to voters in Ontario "as one Canadian to another," said Mr. Constantinidis.

Mr. Constantinidis and Mr. Anders disclosed the volunteer and cash support for other Conservative associations in Canada during interviews The Hill Times conducted over the Conservative Party's insistence on supporting Mr. Anders over the past few months as members of his riding association attempted to replace him as the party's candidate for the next election. Many members of the association were questioning the party's support for Mr. Anders, as well as the support he receives from Mr. Harper, despite controversial statements he has made on a range of subjects since he was first elected in 1997.

Mr. Constantinitis explained that Mr. Anders has campaigned extensively for other candidates, coached organizers in other areas, and that his riding association has been instrumental in financial support and phone banks on behalf of the party during election campaigns.

"One of the things we feel in this riding, we don't want to take the riding for granted, but we feel we have a strong position here and what people in Alberta want, what Conservatives in Alberta want, is a majority government," said Mr. Constantinitis. "So a lot of us in Calgary focus on how can we help the party get elected nationally."

A spokesman for the party, Fred DeLorey, did not respond to emailed questions about the support Mr. Anders' association and Prime Minister Harper's association give to the Conservatives in swing ridings elsewhere.

The cash transfers to ridings in other provinces have until now been conducted through transactions that are registered with Elections Canada.

But Mr. Anders and Mr. Constantinidis say that earlier this year Mr. Anders invited Conservative MP Shelley Glover (Saint-Boniface, Man.) and the party's candidate against NDP MP Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona, Ryan Hastman, to fundraisers in Mrs. Anders' riding. The contributions they raised in Mr. Anders' riding was given directly to the Tory associations in Saint Boniface and Edmonton Strathcona and will not appear on Elections Canada reports as transfers from one riding to another. They will appear only as financial contributions in the two other ridings.

"If people want to see a Conservative majority government, and I hope most Conservatives do, than we want to bring in people who are going to be on the front lines in that," Mr. Anders told The Hill Times. "Shelley Glover is in a tight seat in Manitoba and Ryan Hastman is obviously in an NDP-held seat right now. If people are true movement-oriented Conservatives, then it makes sense they would support those candidates and show up and support them and cut cheques."

The Hill Times