Quinte News talked with Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, to get his take on the last 12 months.
He says despite the fact that three years has gone by since the first COVID-19 cases globally, the pandemic was still an issue in 2022.
“With vaccination numbers and the investments that we have made in our hospitals, I feel like we’re in a much better place that we were at this time last year.”
The battle for the classroom was front and centre as well, with negotiations with school support workers.
“The one thing that we wanted to make sure of was that kids did return to school full time, after so many disruptions over the last couple of years.”
He says the increase in the cost of life also affects the buying power of the provincial government.
“We have designs on building a lot of things, including housing and new interchanges and highways and schools and hospitals. The cost of everything is going up, so in these inflationary environments that we find ourselves in now with interest rates that are soaring, it makes it more difficult for us to more forward on a lot of these projects.”
He says Bill-23 is designed to create more housing in the province, something he says is desperately needed.
