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Last week, the PBO sent a formal request to Finance deputy minister Paul Rochon asking for the data. It also sought an explanation as to why that information is confidential, such as whether it was a cabinet confidence.

The request asked Rochon for a six-year breakdown of the “major budget themes” and the impact of budget measures across all revenue, expense and public debt between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

The request included a prototype of the chart showing how the PBO intended to use the numbers in its report. It set a deadline of noon on April 5 — the day before the PBO released its report. The PBO has still not received a response.

The budget’s new measures were bundled in broad themes, with total costs over five years. They include: “help for the middle class”, a better future for Indigenous peoples, a fair and inclusive Canada, Canada in the world, open and transparent government, and tax fairness.

The budget traditionally provides a year-by-year breakdown over a five-year period of all new tax and spending measures, but the Liberals only provided breakdowns for the first two years.

The budget shows the government ramps up spending in these areas for the first two years to $15.4 billion, but then provides no details on the next three years when the overall spending rate declines to $7.6 billion, which then drives down the deficit.

Askari said that without details on those three other years, it is impossible to explain which of the measures bundled under those themes will be getting less funding over the Liberal mandate.

“To be honest with you when look at these numbers, (there is) nothing there that hits me that should be kept secret or confidential or kept from the public. I don’t really see anything that would justify this. I am puzzled why they are so sensitive about this,” Askari said.

Reached by the CBC on Wednesday, the Finance Department said it was trying to fulfil the PBO’s request.