Photo: Twitter - Stephen Fuhr

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr defended the Liberals' latest budget, saying his government was elected to "do things differently."

He says that was reflected in Wednesday's document, the second under Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

"It's a continuation of what we promised to do, what we were elected to do," said Fuhr.

He says there were really no surprises.

"Help for the middle class and investment in infrastructure are both strong themes throughout this budget. (There's) more focus and more investment in skills and innovation than you saw in Budget 2016."

The budget presented is not balanced as the government continues to advocate spending as a means to growing the economy.

Fuhr defended the government's initiatives, pointing to numerous outside, independent indicators.

"If I look at Stats Can, they are reporting unemployment around the country is down, and is trending down. Our economy grew more in 2016 than in 2015. Manufacturing sales climbed half a per cent in January, the third month in a row.

"These things tell us whether the things we are doing is working, or not. I'm not saying we are growing in great bounds, it will take some time to pick up steam, but we are trending in the right direction."

Fuhr says Canada has the best balance sheet of the G7 nations, and with interest rates at an all-time low, this is a great time to invest in ourselves.

"If not now, when would we?"

The deficit is forecast to dip to $25 billion, but is expected to rise to $28 billion next year.

"I understand people are concerned about debt, and I think we should be responsible with it as well, but I also, as an entrepreneur, understand we have to spend money to make money," he says.

"This is an investment in Canada."

As for an impact on the Central Okanagan, Fuhr says he was pleased the government came to the table for Phase 1 of Kelowna's clean water initiative.

He says once Phase 2 is ready to go, he plans to go back to the table to get more federal support.

"There's also big chunks of money earmarked for innovation and support for innovation."

With the local Innovation Centre now ready to roll, he hopes for federal dollars to support the centre.