VICTORIA -- The B.C. government withheld information showing the number of welfare recipients had increased by 47% until after the provincial election, documents released Monday by the New Democratic Party show.

The documents, obtained through a freedom of information request, show the numbers were initially supposed to be released in April.

In an e-mail exchange beginning on April 21, a government web analyst sent a note to say he would post the new welfare numbers on the government Web site on April 30.

The analyst was told by a member of the government's Public Affairs Bureau to: "hold off on posting these updates until after the election."

The employee agreed, and the numbers were not posted until May 15.

Those numbers showed that more than 10,000 able-bodied British Columbians had been added to the welfare rolls since the recession took hold last fall.

The increase represented a 47% jump from the previous September.

"These documents show that the highly politicized Public Affairs Bureau cancelled the routine release of these damaging welfare caseload numbers during the election," NDP Leader Carole James stated in a news release.

"It's clear the Campbell government put its political interests ahead of the public's right to information about B.C.'s economy and fiscal situation."

In a May 12 e-mail, Pete Lewis, the director of corporate operations for the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, was asked why the numbers were not posted.

In that e-mail he responded: "the caseload stats are not posted because of the requirement to not post information to the Internet during the interregnum period."

He said the web analyst "requested approval to post from PAB (the Public Affairs Bureau) but was denied until after interregnum."

Vancouver Sun