Budget to meet two key NDP demands

Ottawa has lifted the veil on two measures that will be included in Tuesday’s federal budget a day early, both of which were on the NDP’s list of demands. Along with reviving the EcoEnergy retrofit program, the budget will also include money to entice doctors and nurses to work in remote areas. Under the terms of the new federal program, doctors will be eligible for up to $40,000 in student loan forgiveness if they relocate to rural or remote areas, while nurses can receive up to $20,000 if they do the same. According to a Globe and Mail report, the budget will also include a Children’s Arts Tax Credit, a program to help Canadian Forces members find jobs in the construction industry, $50-million for the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo and $4-million for the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute. It’s still not clear, however, whether the measures will be enough to convince the NDP to support the government and avert an election.

The Globe and Mail