OTTAWA - Parliament's independent budget officer is accusing the federal government of "total obfuscation" on the financial hit provinces will take from new criminal justice measures.

Kevin Page says a two-page cost summary released Thursday by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews doesn't serve the needs of parliamentarians or the Canadian public.

The Conservatives say their massive new crime bill, which includes nine separate pieces of legislation, will cost $78.5 million over five years, part of bigger justice agenda the government says will cost $2.7 billion.

But Page, who has been asked by the Opposition parties to cost out the bill by mid-November, told The Canadian Press the government estimate includes no methodology, no supporting information and no provincial costs.

Nor can Page find the $2.7 billion expenditure listed in any federal budget of the past two years.

"We just need so much more. It's disappointing. Parliament needs more. I think Canadians need more," said Page, who was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2008.

"I don't have a policy bias one way or the other where they want to do this. I look at it strictly from the point of view of a budget officer. This is a lack of transparency yet we're asking people to vote on a bill."

Toews and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson testified Thursday morning to the Commons committee studying bill C-10, which the government has dubbed the Safe Streets and Communities Act.

Nicholson urged the Conservative-dominated panel to speed the legislation through the committee process, where amendments and corrections to flawed legislation are theoretically possible.

"We are taking action to protect families, stand up for victims and hold individuals accountable," said Nicholson.

At the end of the hour-long hearing, the Conservative ministers promised to provide documentation on the cost of the legislation over five years.

What emerged later in the day set off alarms in the Parliamentary Budget Office.

"There is actually no information to support the estimates in the press release today," said Page.

"Where else can you imagine yourself going to a bank and saying 'I want $2.7 billion and here's one piece of paper. Can I have my money now?'"

Page had already agreed to a request by both the official Opposition NDP and the Liberals to try to cost out the omnibus crime bill by mid-November.

It's similar to an exercise he undertook last year on another "tough on crime" bill that eliminated two-for-one sentencing provisions for convicts who had spent extended periods in jail awaiting trial.

Government stone-walling at the time led to the contempt of Parliament vote that helped bring down Harper's minority government last spring.

The Conservatives promised on the campaign trail to repackage all the crime legislation in a single bill and pass it within 100 parliamentary sitting days. Their majority mandate has emboldened the government to swiftly fulfil that promise.

Toews was making no apologies for his government's light accounting work Thursday, telling CBC the cost totals came from his officials and "you won't get any better figures than that."

Toews also took a direct shot at Page, citing past projections by the parliamentary budget office that went awry.

"If he disagrees with us, it appears he has about a 50-50 chance of being right," said Toews.

But Page isn't directly disputing the government's projections, at least not at this point. He said he's objecting to the complete lack of transparency and justification for how the government arrived at its estimate.

KEY MEASURES IN TORY CRIME BILL:

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• Key Measures In Tory Crime Bill

  The bill, known as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, includes the following measures: <em>With files from The Canadian Press</em> (CP/Alamy)

• Child Sex Offences

  Heftier penalties for sexual offences against children. The bill also creates two new offences aimed at conduct that could facilitate or enable the commission of a sexual offence against a child. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

• Drugs

  Tougher sentences for the production and possession of illicit drugs for the purposes of trafficking. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Violent And Young Offenders

  Tougher penalties for violent and repeat young offenders. (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)

• Conditional Sentences

  An end to the use of conditional sentences, or house arrest, for serious and violent crimes (GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images)

• Parole Hearings

  Allowing victims to participate in parole hearings. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

• Pardons

  Extending ineligibility periods for applications for pardons to five years from three for summary-conviction offences and to 10 years from five for indictable offences. (Flickr: haven't the slightest)

• Transferring Canadian Offenders

  Expanding the criteria that the public safety minister can consider when deciding whether to allow the transfer of a Canadian offender back to Canada to serve a sentence. (JOEL ROBINE/AFP/Getty Images)

• Terror Victims

  Allowing terrorism victims to sue terrorists and their supporters, including listed foreign states, for losses or damages resulting from an act of terrorism committed anywhere in the world.(STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

• Human Trafficking

  Measures to prevent human trafficking and exploitation. (LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images)