OTTAWA -

A House of Commons committee has passed a report recommending the Harper government be found in contempt of Parliament.

The move could trigger a non-confidence motion and a spring election.

The document is to be tabled in the Commons today and a formal vote is likely Thursday -- although the government could try to delay it.

The 12-page report concludes the government is in contempt over its refusal to fully disclose the cost of its tough-on-crime agenda, corporate tax cuts and plans to purchase stealth fighter jets.

No government has ever been cited for contempt before.

The committee is separately considering a possible contempt citation against International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda for misleading Parliament.

A report on the Oda case is to be sent to the Commons by Friday.

The contempt issue went to the procedure and House affairs committee after Speaker Peter Milliken delivered a historic double rebuke to the government earlier this month.

Milliken ruled that Parliament has a wide freedom to demand documentation from the government.

He said the Harper government fell short of meeting MP demands for material on cost projections for a sheaf of legislation.

As the committee began its deliberations, the government delivered thick binders of documents on the cost implications of its various bills. Opposition MPs dismissed the 11th hour delivery as too little, too late.

Government MPs on the committee fought a vain rearguard action against the contempt finding, but failed against the opposition majority.

The report contains no recommendations for sanctions against the government, but it could lead to a non-confidence vote which would topple the government and produce an election in early May.

The separate Oda case involves a document that denied funding to a church-based international relief agency.

The document contained a handwritten addition that reversed a bureaucratic endorsement of the funding.

Oda originally said she didn't know who added the word "not." She eventually said it was done by her chief of staff.

Oda said she didn't originally know who made the addition and insisted she never deliberately mislead MPs.

Her explanation got short shrift last week from opposition MPs.