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Local

Brian Blanchard with a frozen turkey for sale in front of the freezer at his farm on Friday. Blanchard and his partner, Alicia Dyck, raised 100 turkeys this year for sale. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Turkeys ‘very easy’ addition to home farm

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read 12:06 AM CDT

BOISSEVAIN — The Thanksgiving turkey harvest has arrived for part-time farmers Brian Blanchard and Alicia Dyck at their variety farm south of Boissevain.

The couple this week processed their last load of turkeys and expect to sell 60 whole birds to customers ahead of the upcoming holiday. In an interview with the Sun, Blanchard said the turkeys are the newest addition to their home farm business that sells a variety of meat.

“People were asking for it,” Blanchard said, walking through the soft mud in front of the empty turkey enclosure. “We’re finding the turkey meat is very popular.”

Blanchard raised 100 turkeys this year from May through September, and recently brought the flock to a butcher in Niverville to get the birds packaged for the holiday.

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Local

The front doors of the Brandon courthouse on 11th Street. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

‘Jig is up,’ judge tells woman in failed bid for release

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

‘Jig is up,’ judge tells woman in failed bid for release

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 11:38 PM CDT

A provincial court judge told a Brandon woman accused of stealing from various retailers and skipping her court dates over a two-year span that the “jig is up” before denying her bail on Friday.

“It’s time to face the music and set some trial dates,” Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said in court while speaking via teleconference with the 29-year-old woman, who was held in custody at the Brandon police station.

Gina Schnake has been charged with five counts of theft under $5,000 and five counts of failing to attend court for offences that occurred between May 2024 and June 2026.

In the first incident on May 22, 2024, Schnake is alleged to have stolen from Shoppers Drug Mart on 18th Street before fleeing in a taxi, Crown attorney Yaso Mathu said.

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Yesterday at 11:38 PM CDT

Local

Quentin Robinson is running to represent Ward 7 in the Oct. 28 election, challenging longtime councillor Shawn Berry. (Connor McDowell/Brandon Sun files)

Former NDP candidate takes on Berry for Ward 7

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Preview

Former NDP candidate takes on Berry for Ward 7

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:37 PM CDT

A former provincial and federal NDP candidate is running for city council in Brandon.

Quentin Robinson is registered to run in Ward 7 in the Oct. 28 election against longtime councillor Shawn Berry.

“I am working for the health and well-being of the very place that I live. I have skin in the game,” Robinson said.

Ward 7 encompasses the city’s southwest corner, west of 26th Street and south of the CN rail line.

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Yesterday at 11:37 PM CDT

Local

Brandon city council Ward 9 candidate Keith Waterfield stands on Ninth Street in Brandon on Thursday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Museum administrator enters race for Ward 9

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Preview

Museum administrator enters race for Ward 9

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:36 PM CDT

The executive director of the Brandon General Museum and Archives is taking his shot at a seat on city council.

Keith Waterfield, who is registered as a candidate in Ward 9, said he is running in the ward he lives in because he worries that culture, heritage and arts aren’t high enough of a priority for the city.

“I think Brandon has a really strong community and history,” Waterfield said. “We have all these heritage buildings like McKenzie Seeds … that we need to look after, we need to preserve,” he said in an interview at the downtown museum.

“I’m a passionate person about my community and I’ve reached a certain age and started to think about how can I give back to my community. How can I give back to my neighbours and do something more with my life?” he said.

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Yesterday at 11:36 PM CDT

Local

Brandon School Division assistant superintendent of student services Susan Gilleshammer (right) stands with NorthStar Project project facilitator Katey Rogowsky in the hallway at Vincent Massey High School on Friday afternoon before the after-school tutoring and mentoring program starts. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

NorthStar Project nears capacity, seeks space

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Preview

NorthStar Project nears capacity, seeks space

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Yesterday at 11:35 PM CDT

The NorthStar Project is outgrowing its temporary home at Vincent Massey High School.

The Brandon School Division’s after-school tutoring and mentoring program has been operating for 16 weeks and now has 43 students registered, just seven short of capacity, project facilitator Katey Rogowsky told the BSD board of trustees during its general meeting on Monday.

“During its first 16 weeks, we recorded 697 individual student visits and more than 2,314 attendance hours. Participants have also completed 316 volunteer and community-service hours,” she said.

“We were just a dream and a hope, but now it’s a reality.”

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Yesterday at 11:35 PM CDT

Local

Zeenat Oyetunjai lets natural light into the upstairs living room of her home in Brandon. Oyetunjai was selected by Habitat for Humanity for its affordable homeownership program. (Rylee Gerrard/The Brandon Sun)

Mother ‘empowered’ in her Habitat home

By Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read Preview

Mother ‘empowered’ in her Habitat home

By Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:35 PM CDT

For Brandon resident Zeenat Oyetunjai, home ownership seemed like a long and costly endeavour she wasn’t sure she’d be able to accomplish — but on Friday, she got the keys to her very first home.

“It feels like I’ve been hustling to climb, and I feel like I’ve reached the destination because it’s a big milestone to own a house,” Oyetunjai said.

“Owning this makes me feel empowered, it doesn’t make me feel poor.”

Oyetunjai and her family were selected for the affordable home ownership program offered through Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

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Yesterday at 11:35 PM CDT

Local

The Brandon Police Service crest. (File)

Woman assaulted; intruder chokes victim

2 minute read Preview

Woman assaulted; intruder chokes victim

2 minute read Yesterday at 11:33 PM CDT

DOMESTIC ASSAULT

A 41-year-old Brandon man is facing multiple charges after a woman was assaulted twice in one week.

Officers were called to a residence on the 300 block of 18th Street around 12:40 p.m. Thursday, Brandon police said in a news release on Friday.

Police said the suspect assaulted a 35-year-old woman and determined he had also assaulted her the week before.

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Yesterday at 11:33 PM CDT

Local

Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste, right, speaks to supporters with from left to right Minister of Health Marjorie Michel and Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Minister Joel Lightbound at her party's federal byelection night gathering in Terrebonne, Que., on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Supreme Court explains why it invalidated Terrebonne results in 2025 federal election

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Supreme Court explains why it invalidated Terrebonne results in 2025 federal election

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:29 PM CDT

MONTREAL - Canada's top court says Elections Canada committed a serious administrative error capable of undermining the integrity of the electoral process when it failed to address problems with mail-in ballots in a Montreal-area riding ahead of the 2025 federal election.

The Supreme Court of Canada invalidated the Terrebonne riding's election results in a February ruling and released the reasons for its decision on Friday.

The court said its decision to order a new election "enhances public trust in the electoral process by affirming that a federal election should not be decided by known and correctable official errors," read the decision.

Liberal Tatiana Auguste was initially declared the winner in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne by one vote over Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné in April 2025.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:29 PM CDT

Local

Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu speaks at an announcement on the launch of the Energy and Electricity Workforce Alliance, at Hydro Ottawa in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Liberals will not compromise right to strike or bargain, jobs minister vows

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Liberals will not compromise right to strike or bargain, jobs minister vows

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:27 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says the federal government will not interfere with workers' right to strike as Ottawa considers legal changes to improve labour relations.

Hajdu's department held months of consultations with unions, employers and other stakeholders over the spring and summer about the state of the Canada Labour Code. Feedback from those sessions is meant to inform future legislation.

A report summarizing what the government heard during that review found that unions and employers were split over the degree of power Ottawa should have to intervene in disputes.

Most employers argued the government should have the ability to step in to quash a labour action when Canada's national interests are at risk. Unions were staunchly opposed to any measure that could threaten their right to strike.

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:27 AM CDT

Lifestyles

A young bull moose observes visitors along Hwy 60 in Algonquin Park on Saturday, June 12, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

‘Dooming the moose’: Manitoba Cree chief calls for voluntary stop to hunting

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

‘Dooming the moose’: Manitoba Cree chief calls for voluntary stop to hunting

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:52 PM CDT

WINNIPEG - The leader of a First Nation in Manitoba is urging all moose hunters to stop hunting in the community's traditional territory due to what she calls dwindling population numbers.

Misipawistik Cree Nation Chief Heidi Cook is advocating for a "voluntary hunting closure" of an approved game hunting area that encompasses a large part of the community along the northwestern shores of Lake Winnipeg.

Cook is appealing to all hunters, including members of Misipawistik, to prioritize the long-term health of the moose population by halting harvesting in the area beginning Monday, when the season opens.

"At this moment in time, the moose population just cannot sustain that harvest. So we're asking all Manitobans to stand with us in protecting moose and calling on our government to do better," Cook said in an interview.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:52 PM CDT

Local

B.C. Premier David Eby speaks outside the new Stride Avenue Community School built to replace the former school that opened on the site in 1929, in Burnaby, B.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Eby pauses B.C.’s sales tax expansion, unveils $90M in business aid for trade war

Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Eby pauses B.C.’s sales tax expansion, unveils $90M in business aid for trade war

Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:06 PM CDT

VANCOUVER - British Columbia Premier David Eby says the province is pausing a planned expansion of the provincial sales tax, introducing a $90-million support package for businesses, and directing BC Ferries to build future vessels in the province in response to the trade war with the United States.

Eby spoke to delegates at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in Vancouver on Friday amid speculation he was poised to call a snap election as the Opposition B.C. Conservatives shed more caucus members.

The premier said the province would provide millions in support for communities and businesses impacted by U.S. tariffs, including $30 million for a renewed BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, $30 million for technology companies and $15 million each for rural infrastructure and BuyBC programs.

Eby has previously defended the PST expansion to professional services that was set to take effect Oct. 1, even as he acknowledged it was unpopular with the business community.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:06 PM CDT