The latest session of the Legislature closed Monday in Winnipeg, and Portage MLA Ian Wishart describes it as a busy one.

"We did a lot of things," explains Wishart, "Not the least of which was dealing with the upcoming issue of licensing of cannabis in Canada. There were a lot of bills around the safety and security related to that to make sure everything is in place. It's kind of important to do. And then there was a wide range of other things."

Wishart says they also discussed issues related to water management, and wetlands initiatives that support the need for the green plan moving forward. He notes legislation was passed to change rules for drivers and penalties related to distracted driving. Wishart says they passed about 20 bills.

He explains this fall, they'll debate carbon tax, as well as five issues deferred by the Opposition. Wishart says Bill 28 is also on the agenda, which is about potential savings or restrictions on money being spent for a rainy day fund. He notes one bill just agreed on recently was the BITSA Bill which is the tax changes coming forward to implement many of their budgetary changes. He says the agreement was reached giving rise to an emergency session, so this October 3rd will first see this issue debated when information prior to that date is available. (BITSA stands for the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act).

Wishart adds he's pleased to take a break and MLAs can head home to their constituencies, and take in the graduations throughout the various communities.