A lot of memories were made during 2019 for Josh Guenter, the MLA for Borderland.

The year saw Guenter snag the Progressive Conservative (PC) nomination for the newly formed constituency in April, followed by a six month campaign period leading up to the September provincial election which resulted in a win for the freshman politician. Since then, Guenter says he's wrapped up this "exciting year" by learning the ropes of provincial government.

Elected at just 25 years old, Guenter also set a pair of records in the Manitoba Legislature. According the party, he is the youngest PC to ever serve in House, and is the youngest member serving in the current 42nd Legislature.

Recently, Premier Brian Pallister appointed Guenter to a pair of cabinet committees within government - the Economic Growth Committee and the Public Sector Compensation Committee.

Topping Guenter's list of highlights for the past year is healthcare.

He says, according to November's report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, wait times in Manitoba have been reduced, adding this shows government's plan for the sector is working.

"Our healthcare wait times were twice as long as the national average and yet we were spending the most amount of money per person on healthcare. We've actually seen incredibly positive numbers, our wait times are now down to about average," explained Guenter.

He says the Pallister government has also made big investments in the province's paramedic and ambulance services this past year in order to improve access to timely care for rural Manitobans.

Additionally, Guenter says through phase two of government's healthcare transformation announced this fall, residents of Borderland will start to see increased investments in their local health facilities as well.