Brandon Sun – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Six-year-old Mia Campbell plays pickleball with family at the Stanley Park pickleball courts in Brandon on a sunny and mild Monday afternoon. Environment Canada is forecasting continued highs in the pluses this week, reaching double digits on the weekend. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Still pickleball weather

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Nov. 10, 6 PM: 6°c Cloudy Nov. 11, 12 AM: 2°c Cloudy

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Spring start planned for Princess build

Alex Lambert 4 minute read Preview

Spring start planned for Princess build

Alex Lambert 4 minute read Yesterday at 9:48 PM EST

Construction of an 80-unit residential complex on a long-vacant property in Brandon’s downtown will start next spring, the property owner says.

J.B. Brar, who owns the empty lot at the intersection of Ninth Street and Princess Avenue, said the residential units will be a mix of affordable and market housing. The complex will also include about 300 to 400 square feet of commercial space.

The mixed-use development is the right way to go with the property and will be good for the area, Brar said.

“It’ll obviously bring people and business downtown, and I think some fresh development downtown obviously adds to the area, and hopefully it brings more,” Brar, who also owns The Town Centre on the east side of Ninth Street, told the Sun on Monday.

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Yesterday at 9:48 PM EST

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No evidence of foul play in Delvenne death: BPS

2 minute read Preview

No evidence of foul play in Delvenne death: BPS

2 minute read Yesterday at 9:47 PM EST

Brandon police say the death of Cassity Delvenne is “non-suspicious in nature” and there was no evidence of foul play.

In an update on the investigation released Friday, the Brandon Police Service said it had received the medical examiner’s report, autopsy report and toxicology report into the death of the 24-year-old Indigenous woman.

Police said the medical examiner had determined “a definitive cause of death,” but BPS could not publicly disclose any of the information contained in the reports “out of respect for the family of Cassity Delvenne and in compliance with the privacy provisions of the Personal Health Information Act.”

The release said the Brandon Police Service investigation into the case is now concluded.

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Yesterday at 9:47 PM EST

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Retired history teacher Robert Ferguson shows some of the poppies that he has placed on the columbarium at Neepawa's Riverside Cemetery in remembrance of fallen soldiers in the lead-up to Remembrance Day. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

Cemetery crosses memorialize veterans

Rylee Gerrard 5 minute read Preview

Cemetery crosses memorialize veterans

Rylee Gerrard 5 minute read Yesterday at 9:31 PM EST

NEEPAWA — Placed on veteran headstones in more than 10 cemeteries in the Westman region are nearly 2,000 small wooden crosses. They are painted white with a vivid red poppy placed on the intersecting pieces.

Six years ago, Robert Ferguson, a longtime member of the Royal Canadian Legion in Neepawa, began making and placing each cross at the base of a veteran’s headstone in the Riverside Cemetery in Neepawa.

As his passion project grew, community partners got involved to help build and paint crosses or make poppies to place on them.

Now, cemeteries in McCreary, Reston, Riding Mountain, Killarney, Pipestone, Minnedosa and other communities all have their own crosses memorializing the men and women from rural Manitoba who served in the First and Second World War.

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Yesterday at 9:31 PM EST

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A person rests their fingers on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider following the Remembrance Day service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Ottawa says 4,306 Canadian veterans of Second World War, Korea still alive today

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Ottawa says 4,306 Canadian veterans of Second World War, Korea still alive today

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: 9:19 AM EST

OTTAWA - The number of living Canadian veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War has fallen sharply since Remembrance Day last year.

Veterans Affairs Canada says the estimated population of living Canadian veterans from those two wars has dropped to approximately 4,306.

Last year, the federal government department estimated that figure at 5,649.

Veterans Affairs said it did not have a specific breakdown this year for the separate conflicts, or of the numbers of men and women who served.

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Updated: 9:19 AM EST

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The Royal Canadian Legion has named Virginia Hicks, as shown in this undated handout photo, the 2026 National Silver Cross Mother. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-The Royal Canadian Legion (Mandatory Credit)

‘I can feel their heart’: Silver Cross mother offers condolences over Wainwright

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

‘I can feel their heart’: Silver Cross mother offers condolences over Wainwright

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 9:19 AM EST

OTTAWA - Virginia Hicks did not know when the Royal Canadian Legion chose her as Canada's Silver Cross mother in June that a deadly training accident would soon cast a shadow over this year's Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Hicks lost one of her own daughters, Mariebeth Short, in a military training accident 24 years ago.

Hicks said she was shocked to learn of the fire that broke out during a training exercise at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Alta., last month, claiming four lives and injuring dozens more.

"When we were watching the news, my husband and I, we heard about the accident in Wainwright and it was like someone had poured cold water over you. It was like, oh my God, not again — and with such numbers." Hicks told The Canadian Press in an interview.

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Updated: 9:19 AM EST

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

Judge denies bail for teen facing 22 charges

Tessa Adamski 6 minute read Preview

Judge denies bail for teen facing 22 charges

Tessa Adamski 6 minute read Yesterday at 9:46 PM EST

A Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation man facing 22 charges that were accumulated over the past year involving armed robbery and manufacturing firearms was denied bail in a Brandon court on Monday.

Provincial court Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said the 18-year-old had a thoughtful bail plan, but it was insufficient in addressing the Crown’s concerns about protecting the safety of the public if he was released.

“The picture that emerges is of a young person whose behaviour spiralled completely out of control, beginning with ignoring conditions directed by the court, and then becoming much more serious,” she said.

“There’s every reason to believe, based on what I’ve heard today, that if I were to grant release again, that the pattern that has developed over the last 15 months would continue.”

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Yesterday at 9:46 PM EST

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Samuel Solomon, immigration and workforce development specialist with Economic Development Brandon, stands outside Brandon City Hall on Monday. Solomon says the federal decision will mean greater stability for employers struggling to fill specialized positions and newcomers seeking to make Brandon their permanent home. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Ottawa makes rural immigration program permanent

Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Preview

Ottawa makes rural immigration program permanent

Abiola Odutola 4 minute read Yesterday at 9:44 PM EST

The federal government has made its Rural Community Immigration Pilot a permanent program in 14 communities, including Brandon, to help address persistent labour shortages.

The decision means continued access to an immigration pathway that has helped 829 people in Brandon, comprising principal applicants and their families, obtain permanent residency since 2020, City of Brandon economic development official Samuel Solomon said.

“The program has also helped nearly 200 local employers recruit workers with specialized skills and retain employees who have become valuable members of their workforce,” Solomon, the city’s immigration and workforce development specialist, told the Sun Monday afternoon.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced Monday that the federal government is transitioning the pilot into the permanent program and the communities currently participating are expected to continue, with expansion to additional communities planned.

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Yesterday at 9:44 PM EST

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

Theft from poppy box; Dodge Ram stolen from dealership

3 minute read Preview

Theft from poppy box; Dodge Ram stolen from dealership

3 minute read Yesterday at 9:43 PM EST

Poppy-box theft

A man was arrested on Friday after approximately $1,000 in cash was stolen from a Veterans poppy box at a Brandon business.

Police received a report about the stolen funds from a business on the 1700 block of Highland Avenue around 11 a.m., police said in a news release on Saturday.

A 46-year-old suspect was located nearby shortly after the theft occurred.

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Yesterday at 9:43 PM EST

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Informative placards tell the history of the Brandon Indian Residential School at the site of the former school just west of Brandon along Grand Valley Road. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Man sues over alleged abuse at residential school, youth jail

Erik Pindera 2 minute read Preview

Man sues over alleged abuse at residential school, youth jail

Erik Pindera 2 minute read Yesterday at 9:34 PM EST

WINNIPEG — A man who alleges he was sexually abused as a child by a priest at the Brandon residential school and by a worker at the youth jail in Portage la Prairie is suing the provincial and federal governments.

The Indigenous man, now 68, accuses them of failing to protect him from abuse, in a lawsuit filed in the Court of King’s Bench last week.

“The plaintiff was dependent upon institutional authorities for his care, custody, supervision, protection and safety and was particularly vulnerable to abuse by adults placed in positions of authority over him,” the suit says.

The man, who is not being identified due to the nature of the allegations, is seeking unspecified damages as well as costs for future care.

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Yesterday at 9:34 PM EST

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The former Manitoba Developmental Centre in Portage la Prairie could be converted into an addiction recovery centre, the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives say. (John Woods/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Tories eye ex-developmental centre for addiction treatment hub

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Tories eye ex-developmental centre for addiction treatment hub

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Yesterday at 9:38 PM EST

WINNIPEG — The Progressive Conservatives would convert the former Manitoba developmental centre in Portage la Prairie into an addiction recovery campus, if elected next year.

Interim Tory leader Konrad Narth and Jeff Bereza, the local PC MLA, pitched the proposal as part of a broader strategy to expand treatment capacity as Manitoba struggles with a toxic drug crisis.

“The Manitoba developmental centre offers exactly what is needed for a recovery centre. It’s ready to go,” Bereza, the party’s addictions critic, said after the campaign announcement Monday. “The buildings are there, the infrastructure is there. We just have to have a will to make it happen.”

Manitoba’s next election must be held on or before Oct. 5, 2027.

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Yesterday at 9:38 PM EST