The MLA for Morris says 2018 was an exciting year for not only his constituents, but for all Manitobans. 

In a year-end interview, Shannon Martin pointed to a growing economy and improved healthcare system in the province. 

Also among Martin's list of highlights for the past year is the construction of a new high school in Niverville, and expansions to the schools in La Salle and Sanford. 

"These are all communities that are seeing significant population growth, and these are the needs of parents and...of educators, so it was perfect to be part of a government that recognized that and gave the green light (on these projects," he said. 

Martin also points to a pair of local community-funded capital projects that took place in 2018. They are the new fire halls in Rosenort and Ste. Agathe. Martin said there's also talk of a new hall going up in Niverville. 

"A lot of this has to do with community members identifying what is their priority," he explained. "Things move because people work together."

Meantime, as Chair of Manitoba's Red Tape Task Force, Martin says individuals and business owners continued to struggle to navigate government in 2018. He explained that while government has made a lot of headway in reducing red tape, there's still about a million regulatory requirements that still exist.

"You can imagine not only the time of an individual to try and figure out what applies to them, but you literally need an army of bureaucrats to also enforce them, and some of these date back decades and have no relevance on today's society."

Martin adds the plan is to continue to with a broad framework that has been laid out across government where for every new requirement that is brought in, two have to be taken off the books.