Canada's Parliament returned this week after taking a little over a month off for the holidays.
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Robert Sopuck says it was a much needed and refreshing break, but he's now ready to get back to work.
Sopuck says he's enjoyed getting to meet all the new MP's.
"There's some good people on all sides. I walk across the isle to other MP's, and we shake hands with the new Liberal and NDP MP's, and they come and talk to us as well. So, yeah, it's nice to meet people from different parts of the country, and learn about what they do, where they're from, and what their ideas are."
With the announcement earlier this month about national park passes, in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday next year, being valid for two years instead of just one, Sopuck is fearful that that could put work on Riding Mountain National park at risk.
"The repaving of Highway 10 is something that our communities have wanted for decades, and I want to make sure that project continues, along with the infrastructure work in the campgrounds. I mean, Riding Mountain is really a jewel, and it's very important for the local economy."
Sopuck also expressed his disappointment at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told the World Economic Forum last week to think of Canada's resource-based economy as "the old economy."
