Todd Smith, MPP Bay of Quinte

Great to see everyone at this morning's inaugural Canadian Rural Innovation Summit developed and hosted by QuinteVation with a mandate to promote our vast entrepreneurial community - #canadianruralinnovationsummit.

"Merry Christmas Belleville! The first Santa Claus Parade of the season was a hit," said Todd Smith, MPP for Bay of Quinte.

"As part of optometry week, November 5 - 9, my representative, David Joyce visited a local optometrist, Dr. Billi Prinzen to tour her facility in Picton and review some of the issues in her practice.  Optometrists play an important role in primary care in the day-to-day delivery of vision care and eye health," said Todd Smith, MPP for Bay of Quinte. "Optometrists are in over 200 communities in every region of the province, serving over 4 million Ontarians each year. Dr. Prinzen's practice today includes over 6,000 patients with over 2,000 visits per year.  She partners with her father, Dr. Mark Campbell, Optician and is joined by 3 full time staff.  In Picton, there is just one other full time optometrist, Dr. Rob Locke, also with a very long patient list.  With an aging demographic and rural setting, the challenges to her practice can be significant and we must look to our government to find longer term strategies to support eye care in an efficient manner."