It's time for Manitoba's new government to get down to work. The legislative session begins today, with Premier Brian Pallister expected to deliver a throne speech. Portage la Prairie MLA Ian Wishart says it's going to be interesting, moving from opposition to government.

Minister of Education and Training Ian Wishart"It's going to feel different. We've been critics for a while now, so this will be the first time we're answering the questions instead of asking them. That'll certainly be a change and I'm not quite sure how that's going to work, but I'll certainly endeavour to do my best. We did indicate that we wanted to take a more civil approach to how the legislature ran, so we'll be trying very hard to answer questions.

Wishart says he's looking forward to the session.

"It'll be a pretty big event for us. I mean, it's been 16 years since the PC's have been in government and since we've started a new session it's been about 28 years. I'm certainly looking forward to being government and trying to get some of the things we've wanted to do for a long time done. We're looking forward to having our first throne speech.

Wishart's also looking forward to serving in his new role, as Minister for Education and Training and outlines what some of his goals.

"Certainly the focus will be on trying to get better results from our education system. Over the last 16 years we've gone from being one of the better provinces in literacy and numeracy, across Canada, to being at the bottom of the pack, so we want to reverse that. We'll also be focused on trying to get more engagement with the aboriginal community because the numbers in terms of high school graduates with First Nations are actually very poor. We would certainly like to get more high school graduates and get better results there as well."

Today's meeting will see new Premier Brian Pallister unveil his throne speech, with the intention of delivering a budget in the next few weeks.