The Spring session of the Manitoba Legislature just closed, and Portage MLA Ian Wishart says it was an extremely productive one.

He notes over 40 bills passed and there was likely a record number of private members bills.

"There were certainly times when it was very boisterous in the House, but we managed to get a lot done despite all of that," says Wishart. "And so, that's very positive."

Ian WishartIan Wishart

He outlines the highlights that will affect Portage la Prairie.  

"Probably the biggest thing, of course, is the budget," notes Wishart. "There were a lot of good things in the budget for Manitobans, including some major tax breaks, increasing the personal deduction, which has a huge impact on everyone, plus, we continued our ongoing process of reducing the education tax burden to people by paying a rebate to those, even though the money still goes to education. It's so that we continue to provide record funding for that, record funding for health, and social services as part of that."

Wishart says they're quite pleased with the budget and the Private Members bills, adding he personally introduced two. He says it was in efforts to recognize the value of farmers markets by having a special week dedicated to them in July.

"Another one that updated the engineers and geoscientists legislation to a modern standard to accommodate a lot of foreign-trained individuals," says Wishart. "Things are getting done. So, I'm very pleased with the way things turned out."