OTTAWA—New Democrats have accused the Harper government of refusing to tell Canadians how federal budget cuts will impact services and programs provided by Ottawa.

“Conservatives are hiding details of their reckless cuts and refusing to hand over important information to the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer,” NDP MP Guy Caron said in the Commons.

Caron was referring to a Toronto Star article quoting Kevin Page, the budget officer, who said the government is keeping members of Parliament and the public in the dark about how spending reductions in the Conservatives’ 2012 budget will change federal programs.

Caron said that under the Federal Accountability Act brought in by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives in 2006, the government “is required by law” to share the information with Page.

“The PBO is supposed to help MPs and Canadians understand our nation’s finances,” Caron said. “The Conservatives are withholding information and hiding the real impact of these cuts on services and programs Canadians rely on.

“What we and Canadians want to know is: Why are Conservatives running away from accountability?”

Conservative MP Andrew Saxton said the government is following normal procedures for budgeting and allocating funds in Parliament.

“We will continue to report to Parliament through the normal means, including the estimates (planned expenditures by department), quarterly financial reports and the (annual) public accounts,” said Saxton, who is the parliamentary assistant to Treasury Board President Tony Clement.

But Page told the Star the government should have provided more detail in the “Reports on Plans and Priorities,” a rundown of departmental objectives and resources published after the annual federal budget.

Since that didn’t happen, Page says, MPs will not receive details on the budget’s impact until next year —long after all the budget measures are expected to be voted into law. Page says this makes a mockery of MPs’ responsibilities.

Saxton also said budget details must be withheld until unions for the federal public service — which will see 19,000 jobs disappear — are told where the axe will fall. But Page said the unions have told him they, too, would welcome more timely budget details.

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