OTTAWA - The federal budget aims to put more compassion into Prime Minister Stephen Harper's brand of governing at a cost that won't make a fiscal conservative cranky.
The Conservative government's 2011 financial blueprint features aid for seniors, tax breaks for caregivers and money for volunteers, students, doctors and nurses -- almost all of which was driven by opposition demands or platforms.
But beyond the list of announcements, the amount of money actually dedicated to these initiatives tells a more moderate story: just over billion dollars over two years to split among all those groups.
Where the NDP wanted $700 million a year to alleviate poverty among seniors, the federal budget allocates about $300 million a year to increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement targeted at the very poorest of poor seniors.
Where the Liberals have been touting $1 billion a year to subsidize the incomes of caregivers, the budget introduces a new tax credit that will cost the treasury $160 million a year and put $300 extra in the pockets of caregivers themselves.
Where the NDP wanted the government to take a central role in training new doctors and nurses, the budget dedicates $9 million a year for student-loan forgiveness for medical personnel who practice in rural areas.
That's less than what they're giving to keep Canadian magazines afloat, or what they're dedicating to the health of pigs.
"They're trying to sprinkle little amounts. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't amount to much," said Bruce Flexman of the Chartered Accountants of Canada.
"They're not really dealing with anything too large or structural."
But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty counters that large new social programs are exactly what he's trying to avoid.
"Canadian experience with large untargeted social programs create large bureaucracies, excessive costs, excessive spending and higher taxation," the minister told reporters. "That's not what we're going to do."
For seniors, the budget tops up the Guaranteed Income Supplement amounts that go to couples or single seniors who have no pension or other extra income. The main beneficiaries will be widows who didn't work outside the home.
The poorest couples will get an extra $840 a year, and the poorest single seniors will see an extra $600. But that amount will be clawed back very quickly as the recipients' income grows.
Finance Department officials figure 680,000 people will qualify for at least some of the new benefit. That's about a third of all the people currently dependent on GIS.
For caregivers, the budget gives a 15-per-cent tax credit on $2000 of income -- up to $300 per caregiver as long as the caregiver is earning wages and paying taxes.
"Each family caregiver is unique, but all of them are generous Canadians," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his budget speech. "They are our neighbours, our friends, our family -- and they deserve some extra help."
The credit won't help the poorest caregivers, since they are usually exempt from paying taxes, but it will likely encourage more families to care for their relatives at home, rather than in an institution, said Libarid Guluzian, an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
For doctors and nurses, the budget proposes forgiving the student loans of anyone who practices in a rural community. Doctors would be able to write off up to $40,000 if they stay for five years, while nurses could write off up to $20,000.
The loan program will likely be expanded if it's proven effective, said Tim Vail, spokesman for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
But not every new social policy measure was a reaction to opposition manoeuvring.
For students, the budget has a handful of measures that will make it easier to obtain loans while studying part-time, or while holding down a part-time job.
