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Guests look over the 104 orange hearts symbolizing children who died at the Brandon Indian Residential School during a ceremony put on by the Southern Chief's Organization and Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to honour residential school victims and survivors at the site of the former Brandon Indian Residential School, in this file photo. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Province to acquire burial-site property

By Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Updated: 8:34 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — A burial site for dozens of children who died while attending the Brandon Indian Residential School will be acquired by the province, the Winnipeg Free Press has learned.

Premier Wab Kinew will announce the province’s plan to protect Turtle Crossing Campground at a news conference in Brandon Wednesday to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The move is in partnership with the City of Brandon.

The graves of at least 56 children are located at the campground, the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation has said, pointing to a geophysical study conducted by an archeology firm in 2018.

There have been long-standing concerns from Indigenous leaders and community members that people were camping on the resting place of children victimized by colonialism.

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Obby Khan fights back tears as he announces his resignation as leader and member of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party in his legislature office in Winnipeg on Monday.

Khan quits as Tory leader, leaves caucus

By Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Khan quits as Tory leader, leaves caucus

By Carol Sanders 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:20 PM CDT

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s Leader of the Opposition is stepping down.

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan announced late Monday afternoon he is quitting caucus and will sit in the legislature as an independent MLA, effective today.

He cited internal party fighting for his decision.

The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman survived a caucus confidence vote Friday. He said there were 13 votes for him to remain and six against, with one person absent.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:20 PM CDT

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Dylan Peyachew and Reann Hucaluk of Winnipeg grab water from volunteers while taking part in the fifth annual Reconciliation Run half marathon from the former Birtle Residential School site to Birdtail Sioux First Nation on Saturday. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Run helps bring healing home

By Abiola Odutola 6 minute read Preview

Run helps bring healing home

By Abiola Odutola 6 minute read Yesterday at 11:13 PM CDT

BIRTLE — For some participants, Saturday’s fifth annual Reconciliation Run was more than a 21.1-kilometre race.

It was a journey home.

“It feels special to run it, especially because of the ones that didn’t make it home,” said Anastasia Petrachuk, who travelled from Esterhazy, Sask., to participate in the run for the third year in a row.

“We’re essentially … taking their spirits home while we’re running.”

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Yesterday at 11:13 PM CDT

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Kim MacKenzie, co-chair of Truth and Reconciliation Week in Brandon and an administrator at Pathways Home on Sixth Street. MacKenzie has been involved in helping plan the week of events. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun)

Unveiling to cap Orange Shirt Day Walk

By Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 6 minute read Preview

Unveiling to cap Orange Shirt Day Walk

By Connor McDowellLocal Journalism Initiative 6 minute read Yesterday at 11:15 PM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew will be in Brandon tomorrow as Truth and Reconciliation Day events return to the Riverbank Discovery Centre with activities focused on healing through tradition.

Kinew is expected to take part in the Orange Shirt Day Walk before making an announcement at the site of the former Brandon Indian Residential School.

An unveiling ceremony will take place at the site for a permanent monument consisting of a centre panel made of black granite, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Jennifer Bone said.

With the addition of eight additional panels, the finished monument will list the names of students who attended the school, as well as survivors and children who never returned home, she said.

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Yesterday at 11:15 PM CDT

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The Brandon courthouse on 11th Street. (File)

Security guard assault nets 9 months in jail

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

Security guard assault nets 9 months in jail

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 11:15 PM CDT

A 37-year-old man was sentenced to nine months in jail on Monday after he lunged at a Prairie Mountain Health security guard with a knife and pushed him, resulting in the employee breaking his ankle.

Frank Benn was high on crystal methamphetamine and experiencing negative side effects from being off medication when he assaulted the guard at The Town Centre mall on July 22, said his defence lawyer, Bob Harrison, in Brandon provincial court.

“He was suffering from mental health issues at the time,” Harrison said, adding that his client initially planned to see a psychiatrist and feels remorse for his actions.

Benn, who appeared virtually from the Brandon Correctional Centre, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, failing to comply with a release order, and another weapons charge for an incident in May.

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Yesterday at 11:15 PM CDT

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Brandon city council Ward 3 candidate Craig Shanks stands outside his home in Brandon’s Riverheights neighbourhood on Sept. 22. (Alex Lambert/The Brandon Sun)

Ward 3 candidate wants city to shore up its reserves

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Preview

Ward 3 candidate wants city to shore up its reserves

By Alex Lambert 4 minute read Yesterday at 11:19 PM CDT

The city should be putting more money into financial reserves in order to better prepare for surprise repairs and fund major projects, a municipal council candidate says.

Craig Shanks, who is one of four registered candidates in Ward 3, said being proactive is better than being reactive when it comes to paying for infrastructure work that arises without notice.

“All the stuff that’s happened with flooding and windstorms and hailstorms and wildfires and those kinds of things … that just puts a real big pressure on the city and the infrastructure as a whole,” Shanks, who works as an executive adjuster at Wheat City Claims Services, said in an interview at his home in Ward 3 last week.

Responding to this year’s flooding, Brandon city council recently voted to use $210,000 of parks reserve funds to improve drainage at the Wheat City Golf Course after floodwaters closed part of it during the summer. An additional $2,280,000 was taken from four separate reserves in July to pay for flood recovery and mitigation, though the city has applied for disaster financial assistance from the province to recuperate that cost.

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Yesterday at 11:19 PM CDT

Business

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s import bans on Canadian liquor, whey, motorcycles take effect

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Trump’s import bans on Canadian liquor, whey, motorcycles take effect

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 8:50 AM CDT

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated his trade war with Canada with outright bans on imports of certain Canadian goods.

Trump's previously announced bans — which affect some alcoholic drinks, dairy byproducts and motorcycles, among other goods — came into force at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office said Monday the government's top priority remains "protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses from these unjustified actions."

The bans mark the latest escalation of the trade war between the two countries as the Trump administration seeks to pressure Canada into concessions in trade talks.

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Updated: 8:50 AM CDT

Local

Obby Khan speaks to reporters after being sworn-in as a member of the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg, Monday, April 4, 2022. Khan won a byelection in the Fort Whyte constituency in Winnipeg on March 22. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Lambert

Manitoba Tories choose interim leader Konrad Narth after Obby Khan abruptly resigns

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Manitoba Tories choose interim leader Konrad Narth after Obby Khan abruptly resigns

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 11:50 AM CDT

WINNIPEG - The new interim leader of Manitoba’s Opposition Progressive Conservatives says his party has work to do but remains united.

"We're not fractured,” Konrad Narth told reporters Tuesday morning shortly after being selected in a closed-door caucus meeting and just hours before the legislature sitting was set to resume.

“We're moving forward together to represent Manitobans.”

Narth, who represents La Vérendrye in the province's southeast, was chosen a day after Obby Khan abruptly quit the top job – and quit the caucus. Khan cited caucus turmoil and infighting and said he would sit as an Independent.

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Updated: 11:50 AM CDT

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Bank notes issued by the Bank of Canada are seen in a display case at the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Canada can do more to prosecute sophisticated money laundering cases: watchdog report

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canada can do more to prosecute sophisticated money laundering cases: watchdog report

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 8:40 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Canada is making strides in the fight against criminal efforts to disguise illicit cash but can do more to investigate and prosecute complex money laundering cases, says a new international watchdog report.

The report, an independent, peer review assessment by the Financial Action Task Force and the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering, says Canada has developed "a mature and nuanced understanding" of money laundering and terrorist financing threats and vulnerabilities.

It also applauds Canada's strong co-ordination across government and ability to use financial intelligence to support criminal investigations and international efforts.

But the report calls on Canada to improve its supervision of non-financial sectors, including dealers in precious metals and stones and real estate.

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Updated: 8:40 AM CDT

Opinion

Trechelle Bunn

Chief’s pledge offers us all a way forward

4 minute read Preview

Chief’s pledge offers us all a way forward

4 minute read Updated: 10:34 AM CDT

As Canada continues to navigate the long and sometimes tortuous road that is truth and reconciliation, a profound shift is beginning among those who lead the way.

Earlier this month it was announced that Chief Trechelle Bunn of the Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation has been named a 2026 recipient of the Royal Society of Canada’s Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize.

That achievement is more than just a well-deserved personal accolade for a smart young legal mind. It serves as a kind of signpost for the evolution of social justice that is taking place in this province.

Established in 2021, the Abella Prize recognizes law graduates with the unique potential to reshape equity on a national scale.

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Updated: 10:34 AM CDT

Local

Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty listens during a funding announcement for

Minister won’t commit to criminalizing residential school denialism

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Minister won’t commit to criminalizing residential school denialism

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: 8:51 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty was noncommittal Monday when asked about criminalizing residential school denialism after a group linked to white nationalism reportedly staged a demonstration in the B.C. interior over the weekend.

Roseanne Casimir, chief of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, said on Sunday a group of masked individuals dropped a banner from an overpass in Kamloops, B.C. The banner, with the words "Got bones?" appeared to be questioning reports of human burials at the former sites of residential schools.

The demonstration happened just days ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour the children who attended residential schools and to remember the ones who never came home.

"White supremacy will not instil fear in generations of survivors and intergenerational survivors who have already carried fear for far too long. Our people know what it means to live with fear imposed upon us by others," Casimir said in a media statement Sunday.

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Updated: 8:51 AM CDT

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