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OTTAWA The Liberal government is expected to face an uproar from disabled veterans after backing offits promise to reintroduce lifelong pensions for those injured in the line of duty.

Tuesdays federal budget included a number of new measures to help ex-soldiers struggling with injuries they sustained in uniform. That includes reopening nine Veterans Affairs Canada offices closed by the previous Conservative government, and hiring more front-line workers.

Our veterans have dedicated their lives to the defense of their country, Finance Minister Bill Morneau told the House of Commons. They deserve our gratitude, our respect and our support. We made a solemn promise that they will have it. And we will keep that promise.

But the budget made no mention of bringing back disability pensions for veterans who are forced to leave the military because of their injuries.

The Liberals were the only party that campaigned on a promise to bring back disability pensions for injured veterans after they were abolished in 2006 and replaced with a controversial new system that included lump-sum payments. The pledge was a centrepiece of their effort to court veteran voters.

Tuesdays budget instead boosted the amount injured veterans can receive through those lump-sum payments. The increases will be retroactive for about 70,000 veterans who have been given such a payment since 2006.

The government will also make it easier for some severely injured veterans to receive long-term benefits, and increase the amount others receive while searching for work after they leave the military. Those two measures are expected to benefit about 20,000 injured veterans this year.

The increased lump sums, expanded benefits and other measures will assuage many veterans, others will be upset and even angry the Liberals didnt bring back the pensions. The government also faces the risk of being painted with the same brush as the Conservatives when it comes to veterans.

Some critics, including the Conservatives and NDP, had previously accused the Liberals of promising to re-introduce the disability pensions simply to win votes. They had warned that such a move would be prohibitively expensive, and that the new system was more responsive to the needs of todays veterans.

Theres fiscal realities to some of these things that have to be addressed, former veterans affairs minister and current Conservative MP Erin OToole told the Ottawa Citizen last month in response to the Liberals promise.

Theres fiscal realities to some of these things that have to be addressed

And its irresponsible to get some veterans and some advocacy groups believing that theres going to be some major, retroactively applying payment of some sort.

The disability pensions were abolished when the Conservatives implemented the New Veterans Charter, a new system of benefits and services for those who had served and were injured after the Korean War, in 2006. The charter had received unanimous support in the House of Commons the previous year.

Focused on getting veterans into the workforce, the charter replaced pensions with a lump-sum payment for injuries and career training. But modern-day veterans, including many who had served in Afghanistan, said it was unfair. They said the lump sums and other benefits offered them less support than the previous system.

The government is also increasing funeral benefits for low-income veterans. Currently, veterans with assets worth about $12,000 can receive financial support for the government for their funerals. That amount will be increased to about $35,000, which should help about 109 veterans per year.

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Liberals expected to face backlash after budget backs off ...