SUDBURY -- With parliament set to resume this week with a speech from the throne by the minority Liberal government, the Speaker of the House of Commons says he is optimistic that we won't be looking at a fall election.

Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota said he is looking forward to the speech, which is set to be delivered Wed. Sept. 23.

But while many are wondering of the possibility of a fall election, should the speech not receive the support of at least one other opposition party, the speaker believes it will pass.

"In a minority government you never know when an election is going to take place," said Rota.

"It could happen at any time but it seems like there is cooperation within the ranks of the different parties and it looks like there is going to be enough in common there to go ahead."

When parliament resumes, it will once again be doing so in a hybrid format, due to the risks of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Rota said this means that while many MP's will be returning to Ottawa, others will be joining and voting virtually from their home communities, in a bid to reduce the number of people inside parliament at one time.

While the pandemic has certainly kept the northern MP busy over the last six months, he said he has been continuing to work on bringing much needed investments into his riding.

Over the last calendar year, approximately $48 million has been invested in the area in things such as infrastructure, transit and a record number for the Canada Summer Jobs program.

"When you look at all of it, and COVID coming together, we never got a chance to really tell people what was going on in the background," said Rota.

"I think this is an opportunity to let them know that there is a lot of money coming into the riding and allowing us to get out of the COVID rut that we are in and start building the economy again."

As Speaker of the House of Commons, Rota also joined with his counterparts from the other G7 nations and the European Union earlier this month.

While the meeting is an annual tradition, it was conducted virtually this year due to the pandemic.

"The discussions really centered around climate change and how we can keep our economies going and doing it well, more of an equity thing where people will not be left behind when we start making the changes required to save the climate and save the planet," expressed Rota.

The conference, which was hosted by United States Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, also included messages from former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and U2 singer and activist Bono.