Next week’s federal budget will make important choices.

The Conservatives are promising more of the failed old policies of the past with a “stay the course” budget containing billions in corporate tax giveaways and cuts to services Canadians count on.

Jack Layton and the New Democrats have new ideas to ensure all Canadians benefit from the economic recovery that include shelving this year’s scheduled $12 billion corporate tax reductions.

Why do we need to postpone the corporate tax cuts?

Quite simply Canada can’t afford them right now.

With 1.5 million Canadians still unemployed, growing inequality and with seniors’ poverty doubling since the last round of service cuts, now is not the time to spend another $12 billion on corporate tax reductions.

Now is the time to invest instead in a better quality of life for our poorest seniors through improvements to the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Next week’s budget is about two choices: immediate investments to lift seniors out of poverty or tax cuts to the companies who need it least right now -- like big oil or the banks whose executives awarded themselves $8 billion in bonuses last year.

Jack Layton’s choice is to make reducing seniors’ poverty a priority in this budget.