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The Brandon courthouse on 11th Street. (File)

Serial arsonist banned from rural community

By Tessa Adamski 5 minute read Yesterday at 11:14 PM CDT

A serial arsonist who believes controlled burning is his “calling” was sentenced to nine months in jail and barred for two years from a southwestern Manitoba community after he deliberately set multiple grass fires during an active fire ban in May.

Phillip Andrew Unrau, 72, created a dangerous situation for residents in Margaret and a nearby Hutterite colony on the evening of May 21 when he lit several patches of grass on fire along a railway bed, provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said on Wednesday.

People in the community, located about 45 kilometres southeast of Brandon, saw the flames from a distance and called the fire department. While no residents saw Unrau light the fires, he made incriminating comments to witnesses and was found alone near the burning land, stretching 300 yards (274 metres), Hewitt-Michta said as she delivered her sentencing decision in Brandon.

“The damage to property here was minimal, but the emotional and psychological harm that Mr. Unrau causes to his neighbours is significant,” she said.

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Local

Brandon city council Ward 5 candidate Greg Hildebrand speaks during the first of two councillor candidate debates on Wednesday evening at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall. The first debate featured candidates from Ward 5 and Ward 2. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Hildebrand on hot seat at debate

4 minute read Preview

Hildebrand on hot seat at debate

4 minute read Yesterday at 11:16 PM CDT

Incumbent Ward 5 Coun. Greg Hildebrand took heat from other candidates regarding transparency concerns with the current city council during the first Brandon councillor candidate debate on Wednesday.

Ward 2 candidates Deveryn Ross and Sunday Frangi criticized the current council for closed-door meetings and a lack of transparency and communication with residents.

As the only candidate seeking re-election on the debate stage, Hildebrand said the closed-door meetings allow him to “ask extreme questions” and “test the water” before the topic reaches the public eye.

“To do that in a public forum, I think it’d be a different, difficult situation,” Hildebrand said.

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Yesterday at 11:16 PM CDT

Local

Brandon city council Ward 3 and Ward 8 candidates take part in the second of two councillor candidate debates on Wednesday evening at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall. Two more councillor candidate debates, featuring the wards that weren’t featured last night, will take place next Wednesday, Oct. 21. (Photos by Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Debate focuses on growth, infrastructure

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Preview

Debate focuses on growth, infrastructure

By Rylee Gerrard 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:43 PM CDT

Development, growth and infrastructure concerns took centre stage during Wednesday night’s second councillor candidate debate.

The candidates for Ward 3 and Ward 8 discussed the future of Brandon and what expansion would look like on the border of the city’s most westerly and southerly wards, respectively.

Most of the candidates agreed that city planning and infrastructure improvements need to take priority before development and expansion.

Jason Splett, the current city councillor for Ward 8 and only incumbent on stage for the second debate, said he would like to continue developing the South Village to bring more “commercial businesses, residences (and) bring much-needed jobs to the area.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:43 PM CDT

Local

“This is real progress, but we know we have to keep building on that progress to make sure we’re delivering quality care to all Manitobans, no matter where they live,” the provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)

Feds pledge $6M to hire doctors for rural Man.

By Rylee Gerrard 2 minute read Preview

Feds pledge $6M to hire doctors for rural Man.

By Rylee Gerrard 2 minute read Updated: 9:45 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — The federal government is giving Manitoba up to $6 million toward the goal of hiring as many as 90 more family doctors over the next three years.

The funds will be used to expand Manitoba’s practice-ready assessment program, which provides an accelerated licensing pathway for internationally trained physicians who are eligible, to add doctors in rural and northern communities.

“Every single Manitoban deserves to know that, no matter where they live, they have access to quality care,” provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said at a news conference in Winnipeg alongside federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel.

“We know that for rural and northern communities, that means having a doctor not only available, but it means having that doctor available at the right time.”

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Updated: 9:45 AM CDT

Local

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew walks near the entrance of the Brandon Residential School Cemetery at the former Turtle Crossing Campground along Grand Valley Road last month after the province announced that it had purchased the former campground in partnership with the City of Brandon.
(Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Kinew won’t budge on denialism stance

By Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Kinew won’t budge on denialism stance

By Chris Kitching 4 minute read Updated: 9:04 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — Premier Wab Kinew stood by his opposition to the proposed criminalization of residential school denialism Wednesday, after some First Nations leaders criticized his earlier comments and asked him to reconsider.

Kinew said he doesn’t think Canada should make residential school denialism a crime, nor does he think it’s feasible to do so, and he’d prefer to see it combated with education.

“When somebody has a question or wants to make a statement from a place of ignorance, the response isn’t to try to criminalize,” he told reporters.

“The response should be to try to heal whatever is going on with them that would cause them to say something hurtful, to try and educate whatever they lack in terms of knowledge about the true history of our country, and ultimately to find a way for us to all live together.”

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Updated: 9:04 AM CDT

Local

A doll hangs in the haunted forest. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun)

Halloween haunted forest returns with expanded times

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Preview

Halloween haunted forest returns with expanded times

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Updated: 9:59 AM CDT

RIVERS — A local Halloween-themed haunted forest will offer more chances for thrills and chills this year — opening for an extra weekend, and offering a new shuttle service from Brandon.

The Haunted Forest, presented by Lucky Break Ranch near Rivers, will offer a transport service this year for the first time, and has expanded to two weekends from the one-weekend event that was hosted for the past four years. Attendance has grown, said Kim Richardson, who runs the forest with her family.

“Its been rising,” Richardson said, adding the event drew 1,385 people last year. “I know it’s been going up and up.”

To allow more people to attend and make the event more accessible, the ranch partnered with the Prairie Rovers charter bus service out of Brandon.

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Updated: 9:59 AM CDT

Lifestyles

Federal Health Marjorie Michel speaks during a press conference in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, May 28, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Health ministers set to meet in Winnipeg after Ottawa announces funding extension

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Health ministers set to meet in Winnipeg after Ottawa announces funding extension

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 9:03 AM CDT

WINNIPEG - Canadian health ministers meet in Winnipeg today after the federal government announced it would extend funding for mental health, addictions and home care by one year.

Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel made the announcement on social media late Wednesday, saying the extension represents $1.2 billion in funding.

The existing funding was set to expire next year.

Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara is to host provincial and territorial counterparts today, and Michel is to co-chair Friday's meeting.

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Updated: 9:03 AM CDT

Business

A worker stands on top of the Centre Block buildings below the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Ottawa opens up $430M for training facilities, equipment in skilled trades

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Ottawa opens up $430M for training facilities, equipment in skilled trades

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 9:14 AM CDT

OTTAWA - The federal government plans to spend $430 million over the next five years to help unions train a new generation of workers in the skilled trades.

John Zerucelli, secretary of state for labour, announced Thursday that Ottawa is opening applications for access to the new pool of funding, most which comes from an expansion to the Union Training and Innovation Program launched in 2017.

The federal government says in a news release that unions and training providers will be able to apply for extra capital to expand their training facilities and other infrastructure. Expressions of interest are open until Nov. 12 and the government is looking for shovel-ready projects that can begin next spring.

The government is also now accepting ongoing applications to offset the cost of equipment for training and is temporarily boosting the share it covers to 70 per cent, up from 50 per cent previously.

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Updated: 9:14 AM CDT

Local

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Minister Ian Bushie, Natural Resource and Indigenous Futures.

Chief says minister offered funds to remove checkstop

5 minute read Preview

Chief says minister offered funds to remove checkstop

5 minute read Updated: 9:06 AM CDT

WINNIPEG — The chief of the Bloodvein River First Nation says a Manitoba cabinet minister offered up to $250,000 for economic development as he was trying to persuade her to remove a highway checkstop that has outraged hunters.

Chief Lisa Young said Ian Bushie, the minister of Indigenous futures, raised the money in a private conversation in September, also telling her the First Nation would receive a letter directing it to move the checkstop because it’s on a provincial highway.

Young said Bushie described the money as support for economic development in the community.

“I really felt like I was being pushed into a corner. I also felt that I was being bribed,” Young said in an interview. “It may not have come off that way. But he even further said, ‘And I’m not bribing you.’ So, I really didn’t know what to say.”

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Updated: 9:06 AM CDT

Local

A table is covered with seized evidence after 10 people were arrested and charged with drug trafficking offences following the execution of search warrants at four Swan River residences on Oct. 1-2. (Manitoba RCMP)

New RCMP unit making noise in Swan River

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Preview

New RCMP unit making noise in Swan River

By Connor McDowell Local Journalism Initiative 7 minute read Updated: 9:55 AM CDT

The region of Swan River has seen a surge of police activity that has pleased a local mayor and a reeve, as the RCMP investigative unit that launched in April has laid 140 charges and executed 19 search warrants in the area.

The supervisor of the RCMP’s general investigative unit, Cpl. Juanita Bettesworth, is also happy with the first six months, describing the activity since launch as “excellent” in the push to fight drug-related crime. She said the newly formed investigative team has meshed well.

“It’s a really great feeling when a team of individuals who are like-minded and hard working come together with a common goal. It’s a fantastic feeling,” Bettesworth told the Sun in a recent interview. “I have two members who are working in this team that are just relentless. They have a true passion for this work.”

The GIS unit has spent its first six months building a foundation in the community, which included a “lot of time” given to recruiting informants, she said. The supervisor said that recruitment has been instrumental.

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Updated: 9:55 AM CDT

Local

Marchers make their way along Princess Avenue during the annual Take Back The Night March in 2024 in Brandon. The next march will be on Oct. 15, beginning with a rally at Princess Park. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Let’s Do Something for Oct. 15, 2026

31 minute read Preview

Let’s Do Something for Oct. 15, 2026

31 minute read Updated: 9:59 AM 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.

TODAY (Oct 15)

• 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. — The Haunted Forest at Lucky Break Ranch is back for 2026! Join us this weekend for scares, laughs, pumpkins, family fun and raising money for CancerCare Manitoba, Alzheimer Society of Manitoba and Riverdale Harvest Food Bank. For every food-bank item you donate, you’ll receive a ticket to our draw. Activities also include pumpkin patch and carving; carnival games; outdoor movie; face painting and more. No-scare hours are from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Scare hours from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Admission: adults $8; youth $5; family $20. Also taking place Oct. 23-25.

• 6 p.m. — The Take Back the Night event kicks off with a rally in Princess Park at 6 p.m. with greetings and speakers. March begins at 6:30 pm.. Refreshments in the Mingling Area upon arrival at Brandon University. Shatter the silence. Stop the violence.

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Updated: 9:59 AM CDT