Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Spooky Halloween decorations fill a yard for The Haunt at Edwardson Manor at 539 Ross Avenue on a sunny Tuesday. The Haunt at Edwardson Manor is taking donations for the Brandon Humane Society.
(Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

The haunt for dead October

Weather

Oct. 21, 6 PM: 12°c Sunny Oct. 22, 12 AM: 8°c Cloudy

Brandon MB

15°C, Sunny

Full Forecast

Shilo resource centre on alert to help base families affected by deadly training incident in Alberta

Kelly-Anne Riess 2 minute read Preview

Shilo resource centre on alert to help base families affected by deadly training incident in Alberta

Kelly-Anne Riess 2 minute read Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

Military officials were unable to say Monday whether any soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Shilo were among the four dead and 39 injured Saturday when a fast-moving grass fire engulfed a training area at a base in Alberta.

A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence in Ottawa told the Free Press Monday they did not know yet if anyone from Shilo was participating in the exercises at CFB Wainwright, about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, when the fire tore through the area.

The Shilo Military Family Resource Centre, located about 30 kilometres Southeast of Brandon, was offering counselling and other assistance to families of soldiers stationed there.

“We understand that this tragedy may also be deeply felt by members and families here at CFB Shilo,” the MFRC said in a statement posted to Facebook. “Across the Canadian Armed Forces, our communities are connected through shared experiences, friendships, service and sacrifice.”

Read

Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

Business

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, third left, arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Muhammed Abdullah Kurtar, Pool Photo via AP)

Carney heads to Turkey for 1st bilateral visit to deepen ties with NATO ally

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Carney heads to Turkey for 1st bilateral visit to deepen ties with NATO ally

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is travelling to Turkey on Wednesday for a three-day trip that experts say should show how his approach to international diplomacy differs from that of the previous Liberal government.

Carney's office says this is the first official bilateral visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkey. Carney met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey earlier this year as part of the NATO summit.

The prime minister will land in Ankara early Thursday for a meeting with Erdogan before heading to Istanbul to meet with Turkish business leaders on Friday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson will join Carney on the trip.

Read

Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

Business

Victor stocks shelves at the North York Harvest Food Bank in Toronto on Tuesday Oct. 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Canadian food bank use hits 2.3 million monthly visits due to grocery costs: report

Sadeen Mohsen, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canadian food bank use hits 2.3 million monthly visits due to grocery costs: report

Sadeen Mohsen, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 2:38 PM CDT

TORONTO - Kerry Holt never expected she’d become a food bank client.

After losing her job nearly a year ago following major surgery, Holt said it became increasingly difficult to balance her rent, extra bills and provide for her three children.

She would have only one meal a day, suffering from fainting spells a few times, before being diagnosed with an iron deficiency because of her lack of eating.

“I was doing everything I could to find work,” she said. “My groceries and bills were so high."

Read

Updated: 2:38 PM CDT

Local

Vehicles negotiate the intersection of Braecrest Drive and 18th Street North in Brandon. A long-anticipated roundabout for the intersection will go to tender later this fall. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Work on North Hill roundabout eyed for next spring

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Preview

Work on North Hill roundabout eyed for next spring

By Alex Lambert 5 minute read Yesterday at 10:08 PM CDT

Construction of a roundabout on Brandon’s North Hill is expected to start as early as next spring — but some politicians say that’s not soon enough.

In the works for almost a decade, the roundabout at the intersection of 18th Street North and Braecrest Drive will go to tender later this fall, according to the city’s engineering director, Kyle Winters.

“If we get … our tender out and closed before the end of the year, we can get that awarded first thing and contractors can start planning to start whenever kind of the weather allows for it,” Winters said.

He said the city hopes most of the work can be completed by the next winter, though that might leave minor landscaping work for the spring of 2028.

Read

Yesterday at 10:08 PM CDT

Local

Teacher commissioner Noni Classen said both teachers sent messages to a student during the school day, late at night and into the early hours of the morning. (Mike Sudoma/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Inappropriate texts to students cost teachers their jobs

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative 5 minute read Preview

Inappropriate texts to students cost teachers their jobs

By Maggie MacintoshLocal Journalism Initiative 5 minute read Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s independent teacher commissioner has cancelled two certificates this month because of inappropriate late-night messaging with minors.

Robert Gregoire is no longer permitted to teach in the River East Transcona School Division or elsewhere in the province after he was found to have called a student “my beautiful” and “princess,” among other pet names he used in online communications over multiple years.

Brady Nurse, who became the subject of a workplace probe after RCMP contacted the Portage la Prairie School Division about his actions, was also recently stripped of his licence.

New consent resolution agreements — public documents outlining agreed-upon facts and consequences in disciplinary cases — reveal the men in both cases repeatedly engaged in boundary-crossing behaviour.

Read

Updated: 9:22 AM CDT

Local

The Brandon Police Service station at 10th Street and Victoria Avenue. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Thanksgiving theft; garage break-in

1 minute read Preview

Thanksgiving theft; garage break-in

1 minute read Yesterday at 10:07 PM CDT

Thanksgiving theft

A man was arrested on Monday for allegedly stealing about $170 worth of meat from a Brandon store.

A loss prevention officer reported a theft that occurred on Thanksgiving at a store on the 900 block of Victoria Avenue, police said in a news release on Tuesday.

Police reviewed video surveillance and identified a suspect, who was arrested without incident.

Read

Yesterday at 10:07 PM CDT

Local

Brandon police search for missing girl, 15

1 minute read Preview

Brandon police search for missing girl, 15

1 minute read Yesterday at 10:06 PM CDT

Brandon police are searching for a 15-year-old girl who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

Cherish Mini was last seen on Oct. 9 in the 500 block of 10th Street in Brandon, police said in a news release on Tuesday.

Officers believe she may have travelled to Portage la Prairie and then Winnipeg on Oct. 12.

Mini is described as five-foot-two with a medium build, black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants.

Read

Yesterday at 10:06 PM CDT

Local

Loaded sawed-off shotgun nets four years in prison

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read Preview

Loaded sawed-off shotgun nets four years in prison

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read Yesterday at 10:06 PM CDT

A 32-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday after Brandon police searched his home and found he was in possession of a loaded sawed-off shotgun contrary to a weapons ban.

Officers in the organized crime section arrested Abraham Mecas around 11 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2025, and executed a search warrant at his Ninth Street home shortly after midnight, federal Crown prosecutor Ken Hawkins said in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench.

“In his bedroom, they found a sawed-off shotgun that was loaded with ammunition. They also found a variety of other things,” Hawkins said.

Mecas pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited firearm with ammunition and possessing a weapon contrary to a prohibition order issued in December 2022.

Read

Yesterday at 10:06 PM CDT

Local

Threat against high school unfounded: RCMP

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read Preview

Threat against high school unfounded: RCMP

By Tessa Adamski 2 minute read Yesterday at 10:04 PM CDT

Classes at the high school in Swan River continued as normal on Tuesday after the RCMP debunked a potential threat against the school that was circulating on social media Monday evening.

Mounties were made aware of the possible threat involving the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School around 8:15 p.m. The report originated from a social media group chat that was then widely shared online, generating concern from the community and police, RCMP said in a news release on Tuesday.

Police spoke with the youth who purportedly issued the threat at his residence.

“Following an initial investigation, RCMP are confident the story circulating on social media was fabricated and that the youth did not send or post any threats,” the release said.

Read

Yesterday at 10:04 PM CDT

Local

The burned area on CFB Wainwright is pictured south of the town of Wainwright, Alta, on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

‘Perfect storm’: Extreme weather fuelled Wainwright military base fire, expert says

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

‘Perfect storm’: Extreme weather fuelled Wainwright military base fire, expert says

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 9:23 AM CDT

Powerful winds with shifting directions and dry weather contributed to rapid expansion of the grass fire at a military base in Wainwright, Alta., that left four soldiers dead and 39 others wounded, a wildfire expert said.

Environment and Climate Change Canada had issued a severe weather alert for swaths of Alberta on Saturday, warning of powerful wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour in the region where the base is located, 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

The agency said a strong cold front also passed through the area at the time of the windstorm.

Jen Beverly, an associate professor of wildland fire at the University of Alberta, said that weather combination created a “perfect storm” for the deadly fire to spread at a staggering speed and engulf the military training ground.

Read

Updated: 9:23 AM CDT