Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

The rising sun silhouettes the Bunge grain elevator north of Forrest early Sunday morning in the Rural Municipality of Elton. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

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BTA welcomes guardrails on student, teacher messaging

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

BTA welcomes guardrails on student, teacher messaging

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read 12:23 AM CDT

The Brandon School Division will review its existing procedures governing interactions between school staff and students to ensure they align with a new provincial directive banning one-to-one online communications through unmonitored platforms.

The Manitoba government announced the directive Friday, requiring publicly funded schools and school divisions to revise their digital communication policies to strengthen student safety.

The directive prohibits school employees from communicating or interacting with students through personal social media accounts, private messaging applications, texting or messaging features on social networking platforms.

BSD created a procedure regarding safe student and staff interactions that incorporated many of the items in the provincial announcement last year, Supt. Jon Zilkey said.

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12:23 AM CDT

Local

Former evangelist Prophet Samuel Abiara (right) joins Christ Apostolic Church Vineyard of Comfort Brandon pastor-in-charge Lolade Ogunbanwo (second right) and other church leaders to cut the parish’s 10th anniversary cake during the anniversary service on Sunday afternoon. (Supplied)

CAC parish marks 10 years anniversary

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Preview

CAC parish marks 10 years anniversary

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read 12:21 AM CDT

Christ Apostolic Church Vineyard of Comfort Brandon marked its 10th anniversary Sunday, reflecting on the congregation’s growth from a small home fellowship to a church of more than 200 people.

The anniversary service brought together current and former church leaders, members and guests, including former evangelist Prophet Samuel Abiara, who travelled from Nigeria for the occasion.

The Brandon congregation began in 2016 after a couple who had been travelling from Brandon to worship in Winnipeg helped establish a local fellowship.

The first gathering had only seven people — three who travelled from Winnipeg and four in Brandon, Fela Keshinro, pastor-in-charge of the Christ Apostolic Church Vineyard of Comfort Winnipeg Zone, said.

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12:21 AM CDT

Local

The Brandon University campus, as seen from the top of the Brodie Science Building. The Renew BU fiasco warrants a closer look at how the university is run, and an overhaul if necessary. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun files)

This Week on Campus — Oct. 26, 2026

3 minute read Preview

This Week on Campus — Oct. 26, 2026

3 minute read 12:18 AM CDT

BRANDON UNIVERSITY

Shrin Pal, of Brandon University’s Department of Chemistry, will present this week’s Science Seminar Series talk on Tuesday at 1 p.m., in Room 4-47 of the Brodie Science Centre. His lecture is titled “Water, Water Everywhere: Acidity and the Secret Life of Protons.” The talk will also be available online. Email TeepleH@BrandonU.ca for more information.

A book fair, hosted by the BU students’ Francophone Society, will take place on Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m., in Room 022, in the Clark Hall basement. All genres of books, from creative works to text books, in both English and French will be available. Paperback books will cost $3, with hardcover books for $5, plus several tables of free books.

The BU Symphonic Band will perform its first concert of the season on Tuesday at 7 p.m., in the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. The program will include the world premiere of “Slips of Mindfulness,” written by Nic Bray, a BU School of Music alumnus from Dauphin. The Virden Collegiate Institute Band and students from across Westman will also perform. Tickets are available at WMCA.ca.

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12:18 AM CDT

Local

Tu Casa Pupusería Salvadoreña & More owners Oscar (left) and Jacquelinne Rodriguez stand in the restaurant on Sunday afternoon. The new family run business is expected to open at 222 Rosser Ave. in mid-November. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

New eatery aims to bring flavours of Central America downtown

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Preview

New eatery aims to bring flavours of Central America downtown

By Abiola Odutola 4 minute read 12:16 AM CDT

A new family-run restaurant that serves traditional Salvadoran food is expected to open at 222 Rosser Ave. in mid-November, bringing Central American flavours downtown.

Tu Casa Pupuseria Salvadoreña & More is being established by owners Jacquelinne Rodriguez and her husband, Oscar, who hope to introduce customers to dishes that go beyond the pupusas commonly associated with Salvadoran cuisine.

“We want Brandon to try something new, something different,” Jacquelinne Rodriguez told the Sun. “The restaurant would initially open with a smaller menu before gradually expanding its offerings.”

The couple had not originally planned to open a restaurant.

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12:16 AM CDT

Business

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) chiefs listen to delegates as they speak about resolutions at their Annual General Assembly in Winnipeg, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

First Nations prepare for historic meeting with Carney and the premiers

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 9 minute read Preview

First Nations prepare for historic meeting with Carney and the premiers

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 9 minute read Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is feeling the weight of the moment as she approaches something her predecessors sought for years: a sit-down meeting with the prime minister and premiers.

"I look at some of our former leaders that had to really push and pull just to open these doors, and I wish they could see that today," Woodhouse Nepinak said recently between last-minute meetings with chiefs to prepare for the First Nations-First Ministers meeting in Ottawa on Monday.

"It is historic, but at the same time we don't want it to be one-and-done. We don't want it to fall flat and not offer hope again."

The meeting comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney works to speed up major project approvals and development — efforts some First Nations chiefs say threaten their rights.

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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

Business

Ambassador of Cuba to Canada Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz prepares to appear before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Cuban ambassadors ask Canada to renew its rejection of U.S. embargo and fuel blockade

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Cuban ambassadors ask Canada to renew its rejection of U.S. embargo and fuel blockade

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Havana is urging Ottawa not to drop its public opposition to the decades-long U.S. embargo as Washington ramps up pressure on countries supporting Cuba.

"We are confident that Canada will stay with us, as they have done in the past," Cuban Ambassador to Canada Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz told The Canadian Press.

"The blockade and this intensification is, in practice, killing people."

The United Nations is set to vote next week on a motion Cuba has put forward nearly every year since 1992. It calls for the termination of "the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba."

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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

Local

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine: “I want families to know that we listened to every word that they said.” (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Province backtracks, offers autism strategy for all ages

By Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Province backtracks, offers autism strategy for all ages

By Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has announced a U-turn that will ensure its autism strategy covers children and adults alike in response to community backlash.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine announced Friday that recent amendments to Bill 232 — which would have bolstered disability-related support only for anyone aged 17 and under — will be reversed.

“I want families to know that we listened to every word that they said,” she said at a news conference inside her third-floor office at the Manitoba legislature.

The Autism Strategy Act will require the government to create a policy to improve the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and support research.

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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

Local

PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA
Wheat board chairman Allen Oberg says farmers, not the government, decide the board’s future.

Final legal judgment rendered in Canadian Wheat Board saga

By Erik Pindera 3 minute read Preview

Final legal judgment rendered in Canadian Wheat Board saga

By Erik Pindera 3 minute read Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

WINNIPEG — A judge has thrown out a class-action lawsuit that sought damages for certain grain farmers in relation to the end of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly by the federal government.

It’s the last of extensive litigation over the dissolution of the board.

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Chris Martin, in a decision this month, dismissed farmer Edward Andrew Dennis’s 2017 civil claim against the federal attorney general and G3 Global Grain Group, the successor to the wheat board.

The wheat board was created in 1935 as a voluntary marketing program and transformed into a compulsory marketing agency in which farmers were required to sell their wheat and barley to it.

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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026

Local

The Brandon Police Service crest. (File)

Brandon police pause use of Crime Stoppers

3 minute read Preview

Brandon police pause use of Crime Stoppers

3 minute read Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Police services in Brandon and Winnipeg have suspended their use of Crime Stoppers after a significant data breach.

An activist group hacked and stole a massive trove of data from United States firm Navigate360 and the tip-management platform it operates last March, the CBC has reported. Crime Stoppers chapters in Canada and the U.S. use the platform to keep data anonymous.

More than 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over the last 25 years were exposed in the hack, along with unredacted personal information, the public broadcaster reported.

Crime Stoppers chapters collect what are supposed to be anonymous tips from members of the public on criminal activity, which are then provided to law enforcement, with cash rewards offered.

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Local

Incumbent Brandon city councillors Heather Karrouze (from left), Tyson Tame, Jason Splett and Shaun Cameron. (Supplied)

Incumbents prioritize pathway lighting

1 minute read Preview

Incumbents prioritize pathway lighting

1 minute read Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

A quartet of incumbent councillors say they would prioritize more pathway lighting to improve resident safety if they are re-elected in next week’s election.

Councillors Heather Karrouze, Shaun Cameron, Jason Splett and Tyson Tame — who currently represent wards 1, 4, 8 and 10, respectively — issued a joint press release Thursday identifying where they would like to see additional lighting.

Karrouze called for more lighting on three paths at the Riverbank Discovery Centre. Cameron said he’d like more lights along 34th Street and Pacific Avenue, and both Splett and Tame said they’d like to see lighting along Patricia Avenue.

“The city is currently undertaking work to look at lighting standards,” the release said.

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2026