Prime Minister Paul Martin has until Tuesday to decide whether he will change the budget in order to win the support of the New Democratic Party, NDP Leader Jack Layton said Monday.
Appearing on CTV's Canada AM, Mr. Layton said he wants the situation resolved sooner rather than later.
“We don't have much time here,” Mr. Layton said.
“I want to hear back by Tuesday morning. This isn't a time for overthinking it. It is a question of just simply getting on and moving forward.”
New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton acknowledges a member of the crowd Sunday before speaking at Sikh Khalsa Day celebrations in Toronto. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
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Mr. Martin has said he is open to changing the budget.
Business leaders, however, have expressed concerns about suggestions that corporate tax cuts could fall by the wayside if the Prime Minister were to strike a pact with NDP in an effort to hold onto power.
Mr. Layton and Mr. Martin met Sunday to discuss possible changes. The NDP want the Liberals to remove corporate tax cuts outlined in last winter's budget and replace them with social spending.
In Monday's interview, Mr. Layton said no agreement has been reached on the proposal as a result of that meeting.
“There is no agreement on changes to the budget,” Mr. Layton said. “We proposed some changes to him. He's going to give it some consideration.”
A deal with the NDP is widely seen as the minority Liberal government's best chance of remaining in power in the wake of damaging testimony at the federal sponsorship scandal.
Mr. Layton has said previously that the latest talks with Mr. Martin are geared only to changing the budget. A broader deal for support on a no-confidence vote is a different question, he has said.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper personally put forward a no-confidence motion in the House on Friday in the form of an amendment to a committee report that calls on the Liberal government to resign.
The motion could be put to a vote by the middle of next month.
Even with NDP support, the Liberals may not be able to survive such a vote, although the end result would likely be extremely close.
Together, the NDP and Liberals would have 150 seats between them in the House of Commons. The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois would have 153.
Of the three independents sitting in the House, however, two – Carolyn Parrish and Chuck Cadman – have indicated that they would support the Liberal government. The third, David Kilgour, has said he is undecided.
If Mr. Kilgour were to side with the Liberals, the tie-breaking vote would go to Liberal Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken.
During an interview on Toronto radio station CFRB on Monday, Mr. Martin – who has previously praised Mr. Layton's efforts to help get the budget through – would not say how quickly he was prepared to move.
“I won't speculate on issues or the timing – I think it's important that we get this budget through,” Mr. Martin said.
The Prime Minister also defended the corporate tax cuts in the radio interview, saying they are crucial for small businesses.
“An important component of the corporate tax cuts are for small business – a very important part of our job-creation program,” Mr. Martin said.
With Canadian Press
