"Thank goodness for virtual," exclaimed newly re-elected Essex MP Chris Lewis a week after suffering an accident that kept him from Election Night festivities.
Lewis fell off a horse earlier in the day.
"I was just trying to spend a little bit of time with my wife, something I don't get to do very often, and the horse had a different idea for the day," he explained. "My arm will heal. My foot will heal. My shoulder will heal."
It isn't the first time Lewis has suffered multiple injuries during an election campaign. In 2019, he fell off a ladder.
Related story: Update: Essex returns Chris Lewis to Ottawa
"I think my team in the next election, in my third election, is going to wrap me in bubble wrap," he laughed, admitting he's taken some good-natured ribbing for his fortunes. "But, it's going to take a lot more than that to keep me down because I'm incredibly honoured to serve Essex, for them to send me back to Ottawa."
At least this time, he knocked on doors and connected with voters in the riding. His accident was on the last day of the campaign. Last time, it was on the first.
"I spoke to so many people on the campaign trail, specifically seniors saying, 'we can't afford a head of lettuce, let alone put fuel in our vehicles with the price of fuel.' I listened very intently to our young adults saying, 'if we can even find a house, can we afford it? And if we can, can we afford to start a family?'" he recounted. "We're going work across the aisles. Any idea from any party that's a good idea, we'll get behind."
Lewis has said economic recovery after the pandemic is his top priority, but a close second would be repairing the rift between political parties.
"Unity, more than ever, is vital right now. We need to stop divisiveness. We need to come together as a country," he opined. "I'm very excited to work with the likes of [Brian] Masse and [Irek] Kusmierczyk and [Dave] Epp."
He recalls how the four Members of Parliament worked together early on in the pandemic to ensure the border remained open to commerce and that businesses were taken care of during shutdowns.
"I'm going to take the same approach as last time," he explained. "We'll continue this dialogue."