Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Kelly Mushumanski plays with his German shorthaired pointer moose at the Hanbury Hill Pooch Park on Monday afternoon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

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School board approves 7.25% property tax hike

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

School board approves 7.25% property tax hike

By Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:49 PM CDT

The Brandon School Division board of trustees has approved a $149.8 million budget for the 2026-27 school year — a 6.5 per cent increase in spending compared to last year.

Trustees approved the $149,836,400 financial plan during Monday’s general board meeting after a motion moved by trustee Breeanna Sieklicki. The budget includes $149,682,900 in operating expenses.

Overall spending is up by $9,203,635 from the division’s $140,632,765 budget for 2025-26.

To support the budget, the division will require a special levy of $64,261,527, with $59,274,200 to be raised from municipalities.

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Yesterday at 11:49 PM CDT

Brandon School Division board of trustees Linda Ross says the new budget was less challenging to finalize than last year’s plan. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)

NDP mandates period products at work

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Preview

NDP mandates period products at work

By Tessa Adamski 4 minute read Yesterday at 11:48 PM CDT

The Brandon Chamber of Commerce president says she supports the province mandating workplaces to provide free menstrual products to employees, but acknowledges it will be an extra expense for businesses.

“This is another cost that employers are having to bear the burden of,” chamber president Jennifer Ludwig said Monday.

“It’s just another thing that businesses are going to have to manage and mitigate as they move forward, given the current economy with increasing fuel costs, tariffs, trade issues, all of those sorts of things.”

Ludwig said most businesses will be open to the initiative, which goes into effect in August, but they will just have to budget accordingly.

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Yesterday at 11:48 PM CDT

Manitoba will be the first province in Canada to make menstrual products mandatory in workplaces, Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said on Monday. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Former CFO withdraws claim against city

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Preview

Former CFO withdraws claim against city

By Alex Lambert 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:53 PM CDT

A former City of Brandon employee has withdrawn his lawsuit against the city for wrongful dismissal.

The city’s former general manager of corporate services and chief financial officer, Cory Schermann, sued the city in January 2025 for unspecified costs.

A notice of discontinuance was filed last October.

Schermann was fired from his position 11 and a half months into his 12-month probation period with the city.

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Yesterday at 11:53 PM CDT

Cory Schermann sued the city in January 2025. (The Brandon Sun files)

Pharmacy called out for denying free birth control

By Carol Sanders 2 minute read Preview

Pharmacy called out for denying free birth control

By Carol Sanders 2 minute read Yesterday at 11:53 PM CDT

WINNIPEG — The provincial government reminded Manitobans they’re entitled to free prescription birth control after learning that one pharmacy in Brandon was charging for it.

An open letter that was posted on social media by a woman last month thanked the NDP government for providing free birth control, but noted the Brandon Walmart pharmacy had tried to charge her for it.

“I showed them the Manitoba government document that lists all covered birth control brands, and they still refused to listen and wanted to charge me,” the woman’s Feb. 23 post said.

“I waited 40 minutes for the pharmacist and pharmacy tech to figure it out,” before going to another pharmacy where she transferred her prescription and had it filled for free within minutes, posted the woman, who did not respond to a request for comment.

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Yesterday at 11:53 PM CDT

Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Uzoma Asagwara listens as Manitoba Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville delivers the Speech from the Throne, at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

Man denies pointing BB gun at safety officer

By Skye Anderson 6 minute read Preview

Man denies pointing BB gun at safety officer

By Skye Anderson 6 minute read Yesterday at 11:57 PM CDT

A First Nations Safety Officer testified that she was in fear for her life when a man allegedly pointed a BB gun at her while she was on duty in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

Cyril Elk, 47, pleaded not guilty in Brandon court Monday to the charges of pointing an imitation firearm and assaulting a peace officer with a weapon.

Crown attorney Sarah Kok called two witnesses, Helena Mazawasicuna and Christopher Tacan, who were both FNSOs in Sioux Valley on the date of the allegations.

Mazawasicuna was working on the evening of Jan. 11, 2024, when a member of the Virden RCMP contacted the FNSOs about a woman in distress in the community and asked them to assist.

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Yesterday at 11:57 PM CDT

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

BSD launches tutoring, mentoring program

By Abiola Odutola 2 minute read Preview

BSD launches tutoring, mentoring program

By Abiola Odutola 2 minute read Yesterday at 11:54 PM CDT

Brandon School Division has launched the NorthStar Program, a new after-school tutoring and mentoring initiative.

The program, which will begin this year with a cohort of Grade 9 students, is designed to help high school students achieve academic and personal success and is expected to expand as the initial group progresses through high school.

The initiative responds to a recognized gap in student support during the critical transition into high school, assistant superintendent of student services Susan Gilleshammer told the Sun on Monday.

“Beginning in Grade 9 allows the division to connect with students early in their high school experience, helping them build strong academic habits, confidence and a sense of belonging that supports long-term success,” she said in an email.

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Yesterday at 11:54 PM CDT

Susan Gilleshammer, assistant superintendent of student Services for the Brandon School Division, stands outside the BSD Administrative Office on Sixth Street in Brandon on Monday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

‘Uncover what’s really going on’: UFO researcher in Manitoba supports AI tracking

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

‘Uncover what’s really going on’: UFO researcher in Manitoba supports AI tracking

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 11:42 AM CDT

WINNIPEG - Artificial intelligence is going to make it easier to spot whether a bird, a plane or an otherworldly creature is in the sky, as Canadians continue to report sightings of unidentified flying objects, says Canada's top UFO expert.

Chris Rutkowski has spent decades researching the phenomenon and is part of Ufology Research, a Manitoba-based organization that tracks UFO sightings in Canada and publishes an annual report.

The group's 2025 analysis, released Monday, includes data taken from observation stations set up by passionate UFO enthusiasts across the country.

"They're gathering scientific data above and beyond just the average person seeing something in the night sky. This is an attempt to quantify UFO sightings," said Rutkowski.

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Updated: 11:42 AM CDT

Chris Rutkowski, Canada's foremost UFO expert is photographed in his Winnipeg home, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Minister says more than 7,000 Canadians have fled Middle East

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Minister says more than 7,000 Canadians have fled Middle East

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 2:09 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says more than 7,000 Canadians have left the Middle East since the latest conflict began.

Anand told reporters Tuesday that includes more than 4,300 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives who have returned to Canada between March 4 and March 8, using both direct and indirect routes.

"We will continue to provide options for Canadians who wish to leave the region," the minister said.

"While we encourage Canadians to leave the region through commercial means, we will continue to offer support through block bookings, through charter flights if demand warrants, as well as through bus routes."

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Updated: 2:09 PM CDT

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, centre, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Conservatives seek to remove barriers to shipping alcohol across provincial borders

Catherine Morrison and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Conservatives seek to remove barriers to shipping alcohol across provincial borders

Catherine Morrison and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 11:43 AM CDT

OTTAWA - A Conservative member of Parliament has introduced a private member's bill to enable shipments of Canadian alcohol across the country.

Dan Albas's bill seeks to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act to remove restrictions on direct interprovincial shipments of alcohol to consumers.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said there are more barriers to trade between provinces than there are with many countries, and it's against the law for Canada Post to deliver Canadian beer, wine or liquor in six provinces.

Federal and provincial leaders have been working to dismantle internal trade barriers and Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed during the spring federal election campaign to have "free trade" in Canada "by Canada Day."

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Updated: 11:43 AM CDT

MP for Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna Dan Albas rises during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

U.S. museum returns remains of 12 Canadian soldiers

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

U.S. museum returns remains of 12 Canadian soldiers

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 11:43 AM CDT

OTTAWA - An American medical museum has returned the partial human remains of 12 Canadian soldiers from the First World War.

The Department of National Defence says the remains were collected originally for medical study after the war but ended up on display at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia after being sent there in 1919.

The department says the Canadian Armed Forces has been taking part in an international effort led by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to reclaim soldiers' remains.

The collected remains will be interred in the individual soldiers' graves, most of which are in a cemetery in Le Tréport, France.

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Updated: 11:43 AM CDT