NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. — The NDP is going back to the future with a revamped 2011 campaign promise to give tax credits to companies for creating 170,000 new jobs.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said her party would establish a $500 million fund to giving employers up to $5,000 for each new hire.

“It’s time to help small businesses and companies that are creating jobs here in Ontario,” Horwath said at an auto parts logistics company, taking a shot at Liberal Leader Kathleen for giving grants to firms with “no strings attached.”

Employers could receive a maximum of $100,000 each.

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Horwath said the fund is designed to prevent companies from taking taxpayer money and “shipping jobs out of Ontario” but acknowledged an NDP government would rely on trust that the jobs would be permanent.

“I believe that . . . once someone has been in the job for a year the likelihood that ‎someone who’s now trained, who knows the workforce, who’s very familiar with the job becomes a valuable asset to that employer, and the employer will keep that person on the job,” Horwath said.

As first proposed in its previous iteration the fund was set at $250 million and 50‎,000 jobs.

The money will be found from nine existing government job programs, Horwath said.

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