A week after promising to release a costed platform, Doug Ford officially walked back that guarantee.

Ford suggested to reporters that the reason why there might not be a costed platform is because his campaign doesn’t believe the government’s numbers.

“We don’t know and we don’t trust Kathleen Wynne’s budget,” Ford said late Thursday. “For all I know we could go in there and it will be a $10 billion deficit.”

Ontario’s auditor general has repeatedly questioned the Liberals accounting practices, suggesting if the government followed her guidelines the province would be millions in the red.

READ MORE: Wynne, Horwath accuse Ford of ‘hiding’

Earlier this week Ford’s campaign danced around directly answering a question from QP Briefing about whether he would deliver a costed platform, but until Ford spoke on Thursday it wasn’t confirmed.

The decision tosses yet another campaign norm and marks a u-turn from his comments during last week’s budget when he pledged to have clear numbers attached to his plans.

“We have 71 days left in this election,” Ford told reporters on March 28. “That’s more than enough time to unveil our platform and we have a solid platform that is fully costed. That’s the difference. Ours will be fully costed, their’s isn’t fully costed.”

His campaign says the platform will be rolled out “piece by piece in the very near future.”

Ford has come under pressure to release details about his plans for Ontario. He also told reporters on Thursday “we’re going to have our platform out there and you can pick it apart.”

READ MORE: Scrapping media bus suggests Tories want Ford out of the hot seat: experts

Christopher Waddell, a professor at Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication says the Ford campaign is taking on a risk whether it releases a costed platform. If Ford released a plan it would be compared to the numbers put out earlier by the party when it was led by Patrick Brown. On the flip side, choosing not to release the numbers could “open the door” top more attacks.

“Releasing a costed platform is more a defensive tactic to prevent people attacking you than it is to actually persuade people to vote for you,” Waddell said.

While it may not hurt Ford at the polls, Waddell said it could make it more difficult to criticize the other party’s numbers.

Kate Harrison, a Conservative strategist with Summa Strategies said the campaign’s decision suggests the focus during the election will be more on change and leadership than on the nitty-gritty of policies and numbers.

“I think Ford has recognized that this election is less about policy, and more about tapping into a change narrative,” she said over email. “Spending track record and future spending are of course a part of that conversation, but it won’t be as loud as the conversation around overall direction and leadership of the province.”