“Jack Layton’s platform would chase business from our country, costing thousands of Canadians their jobs and would have a negative effect on Quebec’s families,” said Garneau in a statement responding to Layton’s announcement. “(He) talks a lot about the kitchen table, but his platform today would collapse the kitchen table under a mound of unpaid bills and debt.

“This is the problem with the NDP, they believe someone waves a magic wand, and jobs are created,” Garneau added. “Jobs are created by businesses, and this NDP tax increase will hurt every sector of our province’s economy.”

On the controversial campaign issue of cultural funding, Garneau says the NDP platform falls far short of the promises made by his party last week when Liberal leader Stéphane Dion committed his party to not only cancelling Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cuts to the arts community, but doubling the funding to the Canada Council for the Arts and increasing international arts promotion programming by $26 million over four years.