Sieklicki wants metal detectors in all BSD schools

In the weeks leading up to the Oct. 16 Brandon School Division trustee byelection, the Sun will interview the seven candidates on their platforms and why they are running.

Student safety is priority No. 1 for Brandon School Division trustee candidate Henry Sieklicki ahead of this month’s byelection.

Sieklicki, a retired health-care administrator, said removing weapons from schools is necessary, no matter the price tag.

“We have to put up metal detectors to make sure no weapons get in, and that would keep our kids safe in school,” Sieklicki said in an interview Monday.

“Safety has to be a priority. We can’t have children get hurt,” he said. “We have to actually stop any weapons from getting into schools, schoolyards, wherever.”

Sieklicki said one attack — referring to the sword attack at École secondaire Neelin High School in June — is too many.

The metal detectors would be installed in schools for all age levels, he said, adding the plan would also include hiring people to staff the devices.

“I know it’s going to cost money, but what’s the alternative? There is no alternative.”

The funding for the extra costs, Sieklicki said, would largely come from lobbying the province.

“We’d have to look at the school budgets and whatever and go to the provincial government to get more money,” he said. “I’m totally in favour of the provincial government paying for safety.”

He said the program shouldn’t just be for BSD, but every school division provincewide.

As a former public servant with the province’s Emergency Management Organization, Sieklicki said he has the ability to lobby the provincial government.

“I know how to put pressure on government. I know how to get the money. I know how to get after them. I know you have to go to Winnipeg. You don’t stay in Brandon. You have to go and meet them at the legislature and talk with them and pound on the table and make it happen,” he said.

“I think I’m the guy that can do it.”

Sieklicki is one of seven candidates in the Oct. 16 byelection, joining Laura Armitage, Shawna Mozdzen, Bonnie-Lynn Mills, Michael Grantham, Himanshu Shah and Eren Oleson in the race for a single trustee seat in the Brandon ward, known as Ward 1.

Another issue Sieklicki is running on is making sure students learn basic skills, so they are able to excel once they get to post-secondary. After speaking with Brandon University professors, he learned some students aren’t as proficient in writing as they once were, Sieklicki said.

“English is important and mathematics are very important. Other things are important, of course, but almost everything in today’s world needs math,” he said. “Whether you go into engineering, whether you go to vocational school, whether you go into carpentry.”

Sieklicki also wants to see schools expanded and the number of portables limited as much as possible.

“We have to expand our schools. That would be a big thing. I would push for the expansion of schools where necessary, get rid of the portable classrooms. We need more schools built.”

He said even though the division has a K-8 school in the works in southwest Brandon, it should build more.

Sieklicki ran unsuccessfully in a BSD Ward 2 (rural) byelection last year. He lost 299-128 to Lorraine McConnell in a two-person race. He is also the father-in-law of current Ward 1 trustee Breeana Sieklicki.

Last byelection, he ran on being a strong believer in “parental rights,” which, to him, means that a student’s parents must make “a final decision over their children and what their children do.”

That isn’t part of his platform this year, although he said restricting access to non-age-appropriate books should happen for younger students, which was a point of contention when he first ran.

Advance polls will be open on Oct. 8 in the main foyer at city hall from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Oct. 11 in the Pioneer Lounge at the Keystone Centre from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election day is Oct. 16, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at various locations across the city. A full list of voting sites is available at brandon.ca.

The byelection was triggered after Blaine Foley resigned in March.

The next general school board election is scheduled to take place on Oct. 28, 2026, coinciding with the municipal elections.

» alambert@brandonsun.com