PM Confirms Agreement-In-Principle With NDP

Promised tax cuts for small-and medium-sized businesses will remain, but cuts for large corporations will be deferred. NDP Leader Jack Layton had asked Martin to respond by Tuesday on whether the prime minister would scrap $4.6 billion in corporate tax cuts, introduced in the February budget, as the price for NDP support. "This budget isn't perfect. But it's better. And it's balanced, and it includes tax reductions for small business. But it also invests in people and our environment," Layton told reporters Tuesday evening at an earlier news conference. The deal appears to meet many of Layton's demands. The NDP had wanted Martin to reduce tuition fees, build more affordable housing, increase foreign aid and spend more to fight pollution. The proposed deal includes: - $1.6 billion for affordable housing construction, including aboriginal housing. - $1.5-billion increase in transfers to provinces for tuition reduction and better training through EI. - $900 million for environment with one more cent of the federal gas tax going to public transit. - $500 million for foreign aid to bring Canada in line with promise of 0.7 per cent of GDP. - $100 million for pension protection fund for workers. Layton said details were still being discussed by the Liberal and NDP House leaders. - INDEPTH: Federal Budget 2005 Read the rest: http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=cbc/top_home&articleID=1910736 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 27, 2005]