It was an exciting year for MLA Blaine Pedersen as his constituency of Midland experienced boundary redistributions before the September election.

"I lost the west side of the constituency but still have that St. Claude, Miami, Carman, Roland area. But then I also gained the Macdonald municipality . . . Oak Bluff, La Salle, Sanford, Morris, Rosenort, Lowe Farm, is all new area."

He says one high point during this was winning a back-to-back majority with the Conservatives and was humbled by the amount of support he received.

Like many others in the region, Pedersen is also excited to see the progress being made on the Personal Care Home project (pictured above).

"Minister Cameron Friesen and myself had a tour about a month or so ago and it is going to be a great living experience for the residents when they're able to move in there."

During that time he also was shuffled in the provincial cabinet in October.

"I moved from Growth, Enterprise, and Trade over to Agriculture and Resource Development. The department has expanded quite a bit in that besides agriculture, I have mining petroleum, forestry, fisheries, wildlife, Crown lands, and water management."

Although this is a lot of work he says it's been a good fit for him thus far.

Looking ahead, the celebration of Manitoba 150 is something to be excited about.

"There's going to be lots of community celebrations all over the province, and of course here in Midland too. We have so much to offer here. We're inviting all of our former residents and relatives and friends back to Manitoba to showcase what we have here."

Pedersen also looks forward to continuing to meet residents into 2020 that live in the new consistency areas he gained and wishes everyone all the best in the new year.