Unimpressed by the deal between the federal Liberals and NDP, Conservative leader Stephen Harper says he'll push his party to defeat the government at its first opportunity.

During a speech in Amherstburg, Ontario on Wednesday, Harper vowed to convene a party meeting on the subject as soon as MPs return to the capital.

"Let me be as clear as I can be today, our caucus will be meeting in Ottawa next week," he said. "This is not how Parliament should work, and as soon as we get back I will be asking our caucus to put this government out of its misery."

A short while earlier, Harper told reporters in nearby Ridgetown that there is no way he can support the Liberal government's fiscal plan, now that it's been turned into an "NDP budget."

"I'm flabbergasted by the amount of taxpayers' money these guys are prepared to throw around to keep themselves in office," he said, blasting Prime Minister Paul Martin's announcement of an extra $4.6 billion in spending requested by NDP leader Jack Layton.

"It will be impossible for us to support an NDP budget," he added. "We're already dealing with Liberal corruption and an NDP budget gives us no reason to support Liberal corruption."

In Saskatchewan, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale made no apologies as he refuted suggestions his budget has been overtaken by another party's priorities.

"I would have preferred my original plan, but obviously that was not going to succeed in the House of Commons," he said. "In a minority, you have to be flexible enough to make a minority work."

At his own press conference in Montreal, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said, despite the apparent government's eagerness to incorporate other priorities, he sees nothing in the deal to inspire his party's support.

"We cannot support the government any longer," Duceppe said, noting his opposition to climate change provisions in the budget plan. Besides, he continued in English, whatever the terms of the deal, the Bloc is only interested in backing what's good for Quebecers.

"If it's good for Quebec we will support it, if it's not good for Quebec we won't support it. And the Layton-Martin deal is not good for Quebec," he said.

Talking to high school students in London, Ontario, Layton nevertheless stood behind his deal to help prop up the Liberal minority.

"We're not in a rush to judge on the corruption," he said. "That will happen. We're in a rush to get something done ... for Canadians."

Deal details

Martin announced his deal with the New Democrats late Tuesday, in an attempt to bolster his minority government against parliamentary collapse.

According to their "agreement in principle", which trades corporate tax cuts for new spending on social programs, the NDP's 19-member caucus is committed to voting with the Liberals until the federal budget plan receives royal assent.

"Why are we doing it? We're doing it to make Parliament work," Martin said of the deal Tuesday night.

In an interview with CTV's Canada AM the next morning, both Treasury Board Secretary Reg Alcock and NDP finance critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis were on the same message track.

"It's about working together and finding cooperative solutions that allow us to do the things we've committed to do on behalf of Canadians," Alcock said.

"Finally getting down to a relationship in the House over how we can be more productive and get things accomplished."

But that security came at a price.

To secure the support of the NDP, Martin had to agree to guarantee $4.6-billion in new investment over the next two years.

The money will come out of a projected surplus (before contingencies) of approximately $9-billion, and will go toward the environment, affordable housing, foreign aid, training, and post-secondary education.

A good chunk of the money -- $1.6-billion -- will go to new affordable housing programs. Another $1.5-billion will be given to the provinces for reductions in post-secondary tuition fees and for training programs for the unemployed.

Martin said his party also reached an agreement with the NDP to put off tax cuts for large corporations -- but keep them for small and medium-sized businesses.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, the prime minister said the large corporate tax cuts will instead be put into a separate piece of legislation to be introduced when it can find support in the Commons.

"The corporate tax cuts remain intact. It's going to be up to the Conservatives to tell us whether or not they will support them,'' he told CP.

And through it all, Martin stresses that at least $4-billion will still go to debt-repayment.

"Under no circumstances will we go back into deficit," Martin said as he announced the deal. "The fiscal integrity of this country ... remains a fundamental element of our ability to finance social programs and our ability to create jobs."

The deal also includes:

• $900-million for environmental programs and public transit;
• $500-million for an increase in foreign aid; and
• $100-million for a workers' pension protection fund.

Is NDP support enough?

The Prime Minister will likely need the support of all 19 NDP seats in the House of Commons if he hopes to get his budget passed.

A combined Bloc Quebecois-Conservative alliance amounts to 153 votes, versus 151 for a Liberal-NDP combo. That's a very narrow margin for a vote that could push the minority Liberal government into an election.

With that in mind, Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail says the deal merely forestalls the inevitable.

"They still fall short when you add up the Bloc and the Conservative seats," she told Canada AM from Ottawa.

"And it just depends on who's away, who is around and who shows up" when a vote is called.

One of the potential swing votes could be cast by Independent MP Chuck Cadman, who is undergoing chemotherapy at his Surrey, B.C. home.

"You're free from party policy and you're free from caucus solidarity," Cadman told Canada AM, explaining his parliamentary freedom. "So you just have to rely on the will of the constituents."

But that, Cadman says, is changing with every new report Ottawa and the Justice John Gomery's inquiry in Montreal.

"I'm in a position where I'll practically have to make a decision when a vote comes because everything is in such a state of flux, so volatile that I want to reflect the will of the constituents."

Independent Carolyn Parrish has said she will vote for the Liberals because she doesn't think Canadians want to go to the polls. Ex-Liberal David Kilgour has not clearly stated how he would vote.

Meanwhile, a poll conducted after Martin's televised speech last week suggests that the event did not help boost his Liberals.

The Decima Research poll, conducted Thursday to Sunday, put Conservative support at 32 per cent, compared to 27 per cent for Liberals. The NDP received 21 per cent support, and the Bloc Quebecois came in at 58 per cent in Quebec.

The Decima survey of just over 1,000 Canadians is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

With a report from CTV News and files from The Canadian Press