OTTAWA—In the dry, introductory pages of the federal budget — the pages which most budget-readers flip past to get to the numbers — there’s a valiant attempt to frame what the Liberals’ pre-election fiscal policy is trying to achieve.

After the usual self-congratulations for all the fabulous measures of the past, paragraph after paragraph makes it clear.

Canadians’ fear, anxiety, and the unwritten understanding that those feelings, however intangible, could prompt voters to buck up on their hind legs and turn to a populist uprising are driving this government’s thinking and planning.

The budget is meant to be a $23-billion anti-anxiety bromide, an economic antidote for the insecurities that keep Canadians up at night.

“Too many Canadians are worried about making ends meet,” the document states, going on to talk about a long list of concerns that “weigh most heavily” on the public and a recognition that “Canadians of all backgrounds want to be assured.”

“There’s a growing sense of uncertainty taking root around the world, Mr. Speaker, and Canada is not immune to those worries,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in his budget speech.

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With an eye on populist disruption that has seized politics in the United States, and the Yellow Vests who have brought chaos for months to the streets of Paris, the budget is an attempt to make sure Canadian voters don’t turn on the established order, and the Liberal party along with it.

How?

For those with anxiety about how they and their children will hold down a job as artificial intelligence and digitization take over the workplace, the government sets up a portable training benefit for workers to choose their own courses, take time off work and help pay fees and tuition.

For those who fear their grown children will never leave the basement, there’s a first-time homebuyers package that brings in government as an equity partner and allows for a more generous use of retirement savings for down payments.

For the 99-per-centers who are furious about the mega-earnings of the super-rich, there is a limit to the stock option deductions the very wealthy can claim — making good on a 2015 election platform suggestion.

There’s also a tacit recognition that anxiety goes well beyond pocketbook issues, and in many places around the world, populism has taken an ugly turn toward racism and fear of the Other.

The budget fix for that is a doubling of the funding for stamping out racism and intolerance, setting up an anti-racism strategy with an extra $45 million for community-based initiatives. On the border, there’s $1.2 billion to speed up processing of asylum seekers, and their removal if necessary.

“Wherever we gather, Canadians should always feel safe,” the minister soothes.

And for those who are literally worried sick, there is money for mental health, suicide prevention and a promise to make prescription drugs more affordable.

But budgets are usually about dollars and cents, and not really about feelings. Are Canadians actually anxious and is this anxiety as real as the government claims?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is doing research on just this sentiment around the world as anti-establishment populism takes hold, says: sort of.

Of the 22,000 people the organization polled in 21 developed member countries, the OECD found that Canadians were generally more optimistic, and more certain than most other national populations that their governments were sufficiently supporting their economic and social security.

In newly published findings, the OECD says Canadians are indeed quite worried about making ends meet. But compared to other countries, they are more certain than anyone else that if the government has a program on offer, they will be able to benefit.

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So if anxiety is poised to be a driver in the next election, the Liberals start from a solid base.

But as anyone dealing with anxiety will tell you: bromides only go so far unless you deal with the underlying causes. There’s a chance that the big fiscal hug meant to make everyone feel better is superficial at best if it doesn’t address what is truly setting Canadians on edge.

If that turns out to be stagnating wages, or unsustainable household debt, or on-again-off-again resource development, or lack of confidence in the ability of government to control the deficit, then the budget has missed its mark.