Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government intends to create a $1-billion assistance fund to help workers in struggling industries as part of its upcoming budget on Jan. 27.

Government officials say the money will come out of a newly-created fund that will help retrain workers from across Canada - in struggling sectors like forestry, agriculture, and manufacturing -- who will benefit from acquiring new skills.

"It will be a stronger, more capable workforce -- and one that's prepared for the jobs of tomorrow," a government official told The Canadian Press.

"We're going to try to protect the jobs of today and prepare for the jobs of tomorrow."

The leak of details is a part of the Tories' public-relations campaign leading up to Tuesday's budget.

The officials say the retraining fund will be a good investment for the long-term because it will elevate the collective skills of the Canadian workforce.

Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt gave limited details of how the fund will work when she spoke to an audience in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

"I expect we will see a flexible new community adjustment fund in the range of $1 billion, to help communities, like forestry communities, as they adjust to the changing economic climate," she said.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz pledged assistance for farmers in Edmonton. And Human Resources Minister Diane Finley and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced new economic-development agencies for southern Ontario and for the North.

The Canadian Press says it is expected that other cabinet ministers will elaborate on details of the plan at events prior to Tuesday's budget.

CP reports that included among the measures announced by the government on Friday to help struggling industries are:

• $500 million to modernize farms and help provide better equipment.
• $50 million to expand slaughterhouses.
• $50 million to promote Canada's forestry sector abroad.
• $100 million for better forestry technology.
• Two new economic development agencies, one for struggling southern Ontario and another for Northern Canada.

Ignatieff speaks out about budget

The upcoming budget will be a deficit budget, with a senior government official telling The Canadian Press that it could be as high as $34 billion this year, with a $30 billion deficit to follow the year after that.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told a Toronto audience that the prime minister was not playing by the rules when he chose to leak parts of the budget at his convenience.

"I asked Mr. Harper not to play games like that," he said Friday.

"I told him: 'Put the facts and figures on the table.' Don't let them slip out at his convenience.' But the guy just can't help himself."

Ignatieff said the release of budget information "was irresponsible and costly to our economy."

The Liberal leader also said he did not support having broad-based tax cuts included in the upcoming budget.

Liberal finance critic John McCallum repeated Friday that his party will wait to study the entire content of Tuesday's budget before deciding how it will vote.

McCallum says the economic stimulus was necessary, but blamed Tory mismanagement for turning a $13-billion surplus before the economic crisis began to a projected deficit of $68 billion.

McCallum told CTV's On the Hill that Tories were "spending like crazy when times were good," and brought Canada into a much larger deficit situation than it should be, had they spent "responsibly and prudently" before the economic crisis came to light.

McCallum denies any suggestion that there are two groups of Liberals: one that wants to wait for the budget's release before deciding on how to vote, and a more hawkish one that would vote to defeat the budget regardless of what it contains.

"There's one group -- led by Michael Ignatieff - which says .... 'we do not decide how to vote on a budget before we read the budget,'" McCallum said.

"But the budget must protect the vulnerable, it must protect the jobs for today, and it must prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. And if the budget doesn't pass on those tests, and if the actions in the budget are not proportional to the problems this country faces, then we'll vote against the budget."

With files from The Canadian Press