This is Manitoba

As federal funding for AI flows to organizations in Manitoba, we'll hear from Evan Solomon, the federal minister for artificial intelligence, about the national strategy and job security. We also talk with a Manitoba professor who says people who have AI as a "co-worker" either love the partnership or see it as a rival to their human experience.

Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer declared a public health emergency over HIV rates in May. As CBC producer Lenard Monkman tells us, Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by the spike in cases. He looked into why and solutions that could help moving forward. 

This week, we reached back into our podcast vault to when we asked a very pressing question: How can Winnipeg ramp up its nightlife? Host Marcy Markusa explores the city’s after-dark scene with Nuit Blanche Winnipeg general manager Kurt Tittlemier, who discusses how the city can keep its creative spark alive beyond one big night.

Ottawa’s nightlife commissioner, Mathieu Grondin, joins the conversation to share lessons from his city's nightlife revival.

Many Manitobans are realizing they’re uninsured or underinsured after heavy rains this month caused widespread flooding. We talk to an expert who says Canada is facing a 'crisis' around affordable flood insurance. 

Open drug use and dealing have become daily realities in Winnipeg's downtown and West End. Winnipeg Police Service inspectors Jen McKinnon and Josh Ewatski tell host Marcy Markusa how police are approaching drug law enforcement.

Marion Penner wants to die, but after applying for MAID, she was denied earlier this year. Now, confined to a hospital bed in Vita, Man., the 94-year-old has stopped taking crucial medications. She said a number of doctors refused to help her pursue MAID as a matter of conscience, which they have the legal right to do in the province. A surprising group has taken up the cause of fighting that law.

For more on the story:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/maid-law-94-year-old-pro-choice-group-9.7217602

As Winnipeg grows, there are more cars on streets designed for less traffic. The city has identified a strip of St. Mary’s Road as needing improvement and is looking for fresh ideas on how to lessen congestion there, without doing a major overhaul. We explore what businesses and two local city councillors want to see done.

Winnipeg’s social problems are spilling onto the schoolyard.

On the podcast today, politicians, advocates and educators are raising concerns about heightened public drug use near some Winnipeg schools.

Is a police crackdown the answer or will that just target vulnerable populations?

We bring you multiple points of view on this complicated problem in The Peg.

Heckling, name calling and even hateful comments are being hurled across the aisle at the Manitoba Legislature, according to Speaker Tom Lindsey. He’s cracking down, but Premier Wab Kinew is not happy with how he’s going about it. He and a former House Speaker from Saskatchewan weigh in on the issue.

Manitoba's Your Way Home strategy aims to help find housing for people living in homeless encampments. But seniors in some Winnipeg apartment blocks say they've seen a concerning escalation in violence and other incidents after camp residents moved in. CBC's Josh Crabb tells us about the tenants' concerns, and housing advocate Marion Willis explains why she doesn't think putting the two populations together will work.