A top civil servant balked at revealing the federal gun registry was over budget two years ago because she feared potential repercussions on the 2004 election campaign, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Margaret Bloodworth was then deputy minister of public safety under the Liberal government of Paul Martin.

She has since been promoted by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to associate secretary to cabinet -- making her the No. 2 civil servant in Ottawa.

Bloodworth would not confirm Thursday whether she made the statements attributed to her by a colleague who attended a key meeting of bureaucrats in February 2004.

The issue was whether to book $21.8 million in computer expenses run up by the gun registry in the fiscal year then coming to an end.

Had the money been reported to Parliament as part of the yearly spending estimates, it would have put the troubled registry over budget and forced then-public safety minister Anne McLellan to ask Parliament for additional funds -- a political embarrassment just as the Liberals were about to call an election.

John Wiersema, then acting comptroller general, told the Commons public accounts committee he was present when Bloodworth voiced her opposition to any such move.

"Madam Bloodworth indicated that she was unable to recommend that the minister seek supplementary estimates because it would have implications for the pending federal election," said Wiersema.

"At that point it was clear to me that it was political considerations that (were) the determining factor in that meeting."

Conservative MP John Williams asked Bloodworth, in general terms, whether it was true she had invoked "political considerations" at the meeting.

The veteran bureaucrat offered a one-word response: "No."

But no MP pressed her on the specifics of Wiersema's testimony. Questioned later by reporters, she repeatedly refused to say if she had been quoted accurately.

"I'm not going to answer anything further,'' she said as she hurried down the hall. "I've said what I have to say."

Conservatives have long contended the former Liberal government tried to keep Parliament in the dark about spending on the gun registry, which was supposed to cost $2 million but ran up expenses of nearly $1 billion over its first decade of operation.

But the Tories appeared reluctant Thursday to lay any blame on Bloodworth, whose promotion to associate cabinet secretary was announced in April.

Williams maintained that Bloodworth and other public servants were merely taking the fall for McLellan and her cabinet colleagues.

"This was a political decision, it wasn't a bureaucratic decision. The bureaucracy were asked to find some way to justify it."

Bloodworth, however, insisted she was guided by accounting and legal criteria and never came under political pressure.

"I categorically deny that I, or anyone else I was involved with, had any intention of misleading Parliament," she said.

Liberal committee chairman Shawn Murphy said it's unlikely the panel will pursue the matter further.

"The unfortunate part is that there are no minutes or records of the (February 2004) meeting. There's no documentation to support anything anyone says."

That fact was previously noted by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who slammed the decision to put off booking the $21.8 million in computer costs until the next fiscal year.

Fraser also found another $39 million in costs had been previously postponed, but concluded that was probably a simple accounting error.

Wiersema argued at the time the costs should have been booked in the year in which they were incurrred. After he was overruled he quit as comptroller general and now serves as deputy auditor general.

The Conservatives have announced a series of fee waivers and amnesties for rifle and shotgun owners as a prelude to eventually abolishing the long-gun registry.