This week, Manitoba Public Insurance’s (MPI’s) Friends for Life speaker series kicks off its 15th year across communities in Manitoba, including Steinbach. Speakers whose lives have been forever changed by dangerous driving decisions will share their personal experiences with students, encouraging them to make responsible choices and help keep our roads safe.

The Friends for Life speaker series is designed for students in Grades 10–12 and will travel over the next two weeks to schools in Steinbach, Brandon, Elie, St. Pierre, Pilot Mound, Manitou, Winnipegosis, Thompson, Nelson House, Cranberry Portage, Flin Flon, The Pas, Swan River and Winnipeg.

“As we recognize the 15th anniversary of Friends for Life, we’re reminded of the incredible impact personal stories can have in encouraging young Manitobans to make safe choices behind the wheel,” said Maria Campos, Vice President & Chief Customer and Product Officer at MPI. “We are deeply grateful to our speakers for having the courage to share experiences shaped by incredibly difficult moments in their lives. Their stories are a powerful reminder that the decisions we make behind the wheel can have lasting, and sometimes irreversible, consequences. By reaching young people at the very beginning of their driving journeys, we hope these experiences will stay with them and reinforce the responsibility each of us has to help keep Manitoba’s roads safe.”

This year’s speakers include Jon Tiessen and his sister, Rosalie Finch, whose lives were changed when Jon was seriously injured by an impaired driver; Sandra LaRose, who lost her daughter Kailynn in a collision involving distracted driving; and Cody Demerais, who shares his journey of recovery and personal responsibility after causing a serious impaired driving collision.

MPI statistics show that young Manitobans are at higher risk for collision, injuries, and fatalities.

  • There were 69 fatalities on Manitoba roadways in 2025, and 37 in the first 6 months of 2026.
  • There were 164 collisions in Manitoba involving impairment in 2025.
  • There were 3,071 collisions in Manitoba where speed was a factor in 2025.
  • 29 people were killed in distracted driving crashes in Manitoba in 2025.
  • Young Manitobans (aged 24 and younger) are more than twice as likely to be convicted of impairment-related offences compared with other age groups.
  • In 2025, 75 Manitobans under the age of 18 were injured in speed-related collisions in Manitoba.