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VICTORIA – B.C. communities represented by Liberal MLAs are more likely to get lucrative transportation projects such as highway repaving, road widening and bridge work, according to a Postmedia News analysis of provincial spending since the last election.

The province has committed $1.3 billion on tendered road projects since May 2013, with almost three-quarters of the money going to Liberal ridings — a rate that exceeds the party’s share of seats and just so happens to be dominated by ridings held by cabinet ministers.

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Transportation minister Todd Stone insists politics aren’t a factor in picking projects, arguing that road safety, vehicle congestion and population growth are the key factors in deciding which highways to build or roads to upgrade.

But that hasn’t stopped the B.C. Liberal Party from stuffing its re-election press releases with language that credits its MLAs for securing the transportation money — and suggesting to voters that only by re-electing the governing party in May 2017 can the ridings continue to see the same investment in roadwork, repaving and safety improvements.