Solange Machado, the Brandon co-ordinator with the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, estimates the city has seen around one overdose death a week recently. In the past, she would hear of around one overdose death a month, if that, she says.
Three of the four recent homicides in Brandon, a city of 51,000, occurred in the downtown core. The growing number of deaths in the community is creating a cycle of endless grief, says Janis Irvine, Brandon co-ordinator for Community Mobilization Westman, a network of social service providers.