Highwood MLA RJ Sigurdson has been taking in the proposed provincial budget over the last few weeks, and it's no surprise he's a big fan.

Firstly, a few projects in his riding have received provincial funding.

Just last week, a housing project announcement included $227,000 for Westwinds Communities for a project in Okotoks.

"Westwinds has done an amazing job in our community, and I've had a great chance to meet with them on multiple occasions. I know they have more projects slated for our area here in Highwood and I look forward to continue to advocate to get those projects built as well," says Sigurdson.

He's also pretty excited about local school funding, with Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools receiving full construction funding for a replacement for Good Shepherd and the Foothills School Division getting planning funding for a new high school in Okotoks.

Province-wide, Sigurdson is also pleased to see ample healthcare funding.

"The need for a substantial investment in healthcare is apparent. This year there's going to be an additional $965 million in health in order to continue to build a stronger healthcare system. We know how important this is, definitely with my role as parliamentary secretary of EMS I've been working on this file with the minister and understandably there's got to be a serious commitment to be able to address the issues that we face. This funding will assure the government can take the urgent action necessary to reduce the ambulance response times, decrease emergency wait times and reduce times for surgeries."

He also highlights the $158 million to train and attract doctors and nurses.

Finally, he's also happy to see another balanced budget.

"One of the positive things right now is this is our second balanced budget. Of course, we have a surplus, and that surplus is going to reinvestment and debt repayment. The debt repayment alone will save taxpayers $260 million this year and $551 million the next year."