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OTTAWA — The Harper government claims the $2-billion hole in the Liberal Party’s child benefit plan has grown by another billion dollars because they have miscalculated the cost of cancelling the existing Conservative program.

As a taxable benefit, the Liberals have ignored the nearly $1 billion in tax revenue generated by the government’s existing child benefit measure, the government said – a charge the Liberals deny.

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However, Jack Mintz, director and Palmer chair at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, said that according to the federal budget document, the $1 billion in lost revenue was not taken into account by the Liberals. “It looks like somebody goofed. It seems to be a screw-up.”

He said the provinces will also lose about $500 million in tax revenue, if the taxable Universal Child Care Benefit is scrapped.

The Liberals admit their $22-billion Canada Child Benefit plan is $2-billion underfunded, even after they scrap the Conservatives’ $18-billion UCCB and the $2-billion income splitting plan. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said he will reveal a fully-costed platform closer to the election.