Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Ophelia Saville scooters in the sun at the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skate Plaza in Brandon on a warm Wednesday afternoon. Environment Canada is forecasting a high of only 15 C for today, but the temperature is expected to rise back up to 22 C on Friday and Saturday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Scooter girl

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Oct. 9, 12 AM: 9°c Partly cloudy Oct. 9, 6 AM: 9°c Cloudy

Brandon MB

12°C, Cloudy

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New RCMP position to investigate theft of livestock

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 3 minute read Preview

New RCMP position to investigate theft of livestock

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 3 minute read Yesterday at 10:54 PM CDT

The Manitoba government will fund a new RCMP position dedicated to investigating livestock theft.

The funding announcement is expected to be made today at the annual lunch for the Manitoba Beef Producers at the legislature.

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said the new investigative role will fill a pressing need.

“Personally speaking, I think this has been a long time waiting for this to come to reality,” Kostyshyn said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We are doing a great thing for the industry.”

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Yesterday at 10:54 PM CDT

Crown calls for five years in ‘major sexual assault’

By Tessa Adamski 5 minute read Preview

Crown calls for five years in ‘major sexual assault’

By Tessa Adamski 5 minute read Yesterday at 10:53 PM CDT

A Manitoba judge reserved his sentencing decision for a man accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated 14-year-old girl after he invited her back to his home when he was kicked out of a Brandon bar.

The name of the 26-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to sexual interference in May of this year, can’t be published under a court ban meant to protect the identity of the victim.

On June 18, 2023, the man was approached by the victim and a group of her friends outside a bar he had just been thrown out of for being heavily intoxicated, defence lawyer Morgan Lawrence said in Brandon provincial court on Tuesday.

The girl and her friends, who had all been drinking alcohol, mentioned they were interested in going to an after party and left with the accused, she said.

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Yesterday at 10:53 PM CDT

Local

Ward 2 candidate Sunday Frangi is a former city councillor. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun files)

Four candidates vie for downtown ward

By Alex Lambert 8 minute read Preview

Four candidates vie for downtown ward

By Alex Lambert 8 minute read Yesterday at 10:56 PM CDT

Until election day, The Brandon Sun will be running profiles on each of the city’s 10 electoral wards, asking candidates to identify the most important problems facing their ward.

The race in Ward 2 is tied for the busiest in the city, with four candidates vying for the downtown seat.

Former councillor Sunday Frangi, former mayoral candidate Deveryn Ross, city planner Sonikile Tembo and pastor Buchi Onuke are registered for the Oct. 28 election.

Frangi, who served in the Meadows-Waverly ward — now Ward 5 — between 2021 and 2022, said revitalizing the city’s downtown and improving safety are his biggest concerns heading into the election. That fix, Frangi said, starts with improving housing.

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Yesterday at 10:56 PM CDT

Local

Former NDP, now independent, MLA Mark Wasyliw is suing Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, Environment Minister Mike Moyes and Seine River MLA Billie Cross. Kinew and the other defendants have now filed a statement of defence. (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Kinew, two NDP caucus members file lawsuit defence

By Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Kinew, two NDP caucus members file lawsuit defence

By Erik Pindera 4 minute read Updated: 8:43 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — The premier and two New Democrat caucus members have denied they conspired to defame another politician as an excuse to oust him from the party.

Mark Wasyliw, now an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Fort Garry, was booted from the NDP in September 2024, which the party claimed was due to Wasyliw’s former law partner representing convicted sex offender and disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

The independent MLA, who’s a defence lawyer, claims statements his former colleagues made in September 2024 linking him to Nygard or accusing him of lying, harmed him and his reputation.

Wasyliw filed his lawsuit in December last year, naming Premier Wab Kinew, Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie and Seine River MLA Billie Cross as defendants. The claim was later amended to remove Bushie as a defendant and add Environment Minister Mike Moyes, who was at the time chair of the NDP caucus, in his place.

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Updated: 8:43 AM CDT

Local

Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour (second from left) stands with (from left): CEO Gayle Gruben, Manitoba Inuit Association; Grand Chief Garrison Settee, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak; and Minister Will Goodon, Manitoba Métis Federation. (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press)

Arbour meets with Indigenous leaders

By Chris Kitching 3 minute read Preview

Arbour meets with Indigenous leaders

By Chris Kitching 3 minute read Updated: 8:44 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — Three Indigenous leaders were encouraged after discussing reconciliation and the need to confront residential school denialism with Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour, while she began her first official visit to Manitoba Wednesday.

Arbour had a private meeting with Grand Chief Garrison Settee of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents northern First Nations, Manitoba Inuit Association CEO Gayle Gruben and Manitoba Métis Federation cabinet minister Will Goodon at the legislature.

“The message is clear that truth and reconciliation is part of something that we, as all of Canada and the world, need to understand. It is not something that just ends,” Gruben said after the meeting.

“I am a residential school survivor, so I did inform (Arbour) that there are a lot of deniers, but there’s also a lot of people who support us.”

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Updated: 8:44 AM CDT

Local

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is shown at the legislature in August. Wednesday marked the third day in a row in which Kinew spoke exclusively in French in the legislature.
(Melissa Martin/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Premier sticks to French for third day

By Ian Bickis 3 minute read Preview

Premier sticks to French for third day

By Ian Bickis 3 minute read Updated: 8:43 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s premier spoke almost exclusively in French for the third consecutive day in the legislature on Wednesday in a move welcomed by the province’s francophone community.

The consistency is unusual for Wab Kinew, though he has suggested there is nothing noteworthy about him answering questions in one of the province’s two official languages.

In the legislature, he said in French that he was proud to live in a province where it is normal for the premier to speak the language during question period.

Derrek Bentley, president of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine, says hearing leaders speak in French is important.

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Updated: 8:43 AM CDT

Local

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks to the media at a meeting of western premiers in Kananaskis, Alta., Monday, May 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta, Saskatchewan premiers shut down tech titan Elon Musk’s call for separation

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Alberta, Saskatchewan premiers shut down tech titan Elon Musk’s call for separation

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 8:51 AM CDT

REGINA - The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are shutting down a suggestion from U.S. tech titan Elon Musk that the two provinces should split from Canada.

Musk, the trillionaire tech businessman and former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, says on his social media platform X that Quebec would benefit from independence, as would the two Prairie provinces.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had a concise response to Musk on social media: "No."

Moe has said he's a true Canadian but wouldn't halt a public vote on separation in Saskatchewan if residents petitioned for a plebiscite.

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Updated: 8:51 AM CDT

Business

Pumpjacks draw out oil and gas on a frosty -25C day near Carstairs, Alta., on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Oil and gas emissions dropped in 2025 despite increased production: report

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Oil and gas emissions dropped in 2025 despite increased production: report

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 1:52 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Canada's oil and gas sector accounted for a lower level of emissions in 2025 despite boosts in production, while the country's overall emissions ticked up thanks to increased reliance on natural gas to heat homes.

Those are among the findings in the Canadian Climate Institute's annual national emissions report, released Thursday.

The institute, which receives three-quarters of its funding from the federal government, is releasing early estimates of Canada's year greenhouse gas emissions. Ottawa's estimates for 2025 are expected in April.

The institute found Canada's total emissions increased in 2025 by about one per cent in 2025 to 691 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the emissions produced by 161 million gas-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year.

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Updated: 1:52 PM CDT

Local

Goalkeeper dives to block a shot on net as the Brandon University Bobcats women’s soccer team takes part in preseason training at the university. Brandon University’s men’s and women’s soccer teams take on Assiniboine College at the Health Living Centre on Oct. 10. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Let’s Do Something for Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026

Cathy Arthur 24 minute read Preview

Let’s Do Something for Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026

Cathy Arthur 24 minute read Updated: 4:01 PM CDT

For those wishing to have their item listed in upcoming editions, there is now an earlier deadline for publication, so items are needed at least two weeks in advance of the date of your event. Please email to carthur@brandonsun.com.

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TODAY (Oct 8)• 7:45 p.m. — Come and join us at the Haller Haunted Forest today from 7:45 to 9 p.m. We are located on Rivers Highway 25, 2 miles west of No. 10 or 3 miles east of No. 270, half a mile north on Road 110. This is not recommended for children under 12 years of age. Cost is $10 per person (cash only) and proceeds go to Westman Dreams For Kids Foundation.

FRIDAY (Oct 9)• 7 a.m. — The MQHA Thanksgiving Classic will be held in the Assiniboine Credit Union Agricultural Centre featuring Share the Wealth and 3d Jackpot Series. Trail, Ranch Trail, Ranch Riding, Horsemanship and Showmanship. Gets under way at 7 a.m. each day.

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Updated: 4:01 PM CDT

Local

A new stop sign features both english and Dakota writing in Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation. Road signs featuring both languages were recently installed throughout the community. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Birdtail Sioux adds bilingual street signs with Dakota language

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Preview

Birdtail Sioux adds bilingual street signs with Dakota language

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 4 minute read Updated: 8:46 AM CDT

Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation has installed bilingual street signs in order to promote the Dakota language and increase increase public safety.

A total of 14 bilingual ‘stop’ signs and 10 bilingual ‘slow down’ signs were installed on Sept. 22, Chief Trechelle Bunn told the Sun in a recent interview. The signage serves two goals in the community, she said.

“I thought that was really meaningful to be able to tackle two needs, or two goals at the same time of not only community safety but making sure that our traditional language is visible within the community,” Bunn said. “It relates to community safety, but also to our larger goal of making our language more visible.”

A total of 30 public safety signs were added to the community during the recent day in September, she said. The 24 bilingual signs are important “especially for our young people that are learning and reclaiming the language,” she added.

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Updated: 8:46 AM CDT