While the new MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex says he is continuing to adjust to the role heading into 2025, he is pleased with the progress made on several issues affecting the riding.
Steve Pinsonneault has been keeping busy over the last seven months following the by-election to replace former Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton.
He said with a riding the size of PEI it’s important to put the miles in.
“It’s been a real whirlwind for sure. I’ve been busy, I’ve gone to every community meeting with all of the mayors, the wardens, a lot of councillors,” said Pinsonneault. “I’ve put a lot of kilometres on the car but I want to get familiar with everywhere.”
One of the accomplishments that Pinsonneault said he was most pleased with was ensuring a dormant landfill on Irish School Road near Dresden would undergo a comprehensive environmental assessment after a proposal to reopen the site drew the ire of the local community.
“We got the Dresden landfill to the environmental assessment process, which was big. I had a lot of meetings with the Minister of the Environment and we got that done,” he said. “That was weighing heavy on the minds of the folks in the Dresden area.”
Pinsonneault was recently acclaimed as the PC Party’s candidate for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex ahead of the next provincial election scheduled for June 4, 2026. However, several political pundits believe Premier Doug Ford will call for an early election.
Either way, Pinsonneault said he’s ready.
“To be totally honest, none of us know when that election is coming. All I know is that I’ve got all of my ducks in a row,” he said. “It could happen soon, it could happen two years from now. Nobody really knows. We won’t know until the day they announce it.”
In the meantime, Pinsonneault said it will be business as usual in the new year.
“I intend to work really hard to represent the constituents’ concerns and take them down to Queen’s Park,” he said.