You won't believe what our government is doing
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You know, sometimes you read a story and you just think, *oba nä*, what are they thinking once? This loan the Manitoba NDP government is giving to JasperVOCAL, an AI call-screening company in Winnipeg – almost half a million dollars. I'm all for supporting local businesses, don't misunderstand me. We need jobs in this province, and especially in the tech sector, that's important. But when you hear about something like this, you have to ask yourself, with all the struggles our small communities face, is this the best use of our money?
### What This Means for Manitoba
This isn't just a Winnipeg thing, you see. When the provincial government makes these kinds of moves, it affects everyone, right down to the folks trying to make a living down by the Assiniboine River here in Brandon.
* This is a loan, not a grant, so there's an expectation of repayment. * The money is going to an AI company, a sector that's growing, yes, but also one that some worry about when it comes to job displacement. * It highlights the provincial government's priorities when it comes to economic development.
I just think about all the times we've seen local newspapers close down in places like Morden and Altona, those papers were 80 years old. You can't replace that with a Facebook group, you know. And here we are, half a million for an AI call-screening company. Well, that's something. It makes you wonder how that money could have been used to support community-based initiatives or even our own Brandon University, which is such a cornerstone for our city.
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