Brandon—Souris

Brandon—Souris covered the southwestern corner of Manitoba, stretching from the city of Brandon westward to the Saskatchewan border and south to the United States boundary with North Dakota. The riding was vast and predominantly rural, encompassing the communities of Virden, Souris, Killarney, Carberry, and Boissevain, along with the military installation at Canadian Forces Base Shilo. Brandon, Manitoba's second-largest city with a population of approximately 49,000, served as the commercial, healthcare, and educational hub for the broader region.

Candidates

Larry Maguire (Conservative) — The incumbent MP, first elected in a November 2013 by-election following the resignation of Conservative MP Merv Tweed, who left Parliament to take a position with the railroad company OmniTRAX. Maguire won that by-election by only 389 votes over Liberal candidate Rolf Dinsdale. Before entering federal politics, he owned and operated Maguire Farms Limited in Elgin from 1975 to 2001, was named mid-Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer in 1986, and served as president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association from 1995 to 1999. He then served as a Progressive Conservative MLA for Arthur-Virden in the Manitoba legislature from 1999 to 2013.

Jodi Wyman (Liberal) — A Brandon lawyer who had been practising since receiving her law degree from the University of Manitoba in 1997. She began working in Brandon in 1998 and was a member of the Patersons LLP law firm. The 2015 race was her first campaign for elected office.

Melissa Joy Wastasecoot (NDP) — A constituency assistant for Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell. Wastasecoot grew up in Brandon and was a single parent raising two children. The 2015 election marked her first federal campaign.

David Neufeld (Green Party) — The Green Party candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

Agriculture was the foundational industry of Brandon—Souris. The surrounding prairies produced cereals, canola, and pulse crops including peas and soybeans, while cattle, hog, and sheep operations dotted the countryside. Maple Leaf Foods operated a large pork processing plant on Richmond Avenue East in Brandon that was one of the city's largest employers, having drawn hundreds of immigrant workers — many from Latin America and the Philippines — to the community since the plant opened in 1999.

Canadian Forces Base Shilo, located roughly thirty-five kilometres east of Brandon, was home to the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery and served as a major training facility for the Canadian Army. The base was a significant economic driver for the region, supporting both military and civilian employment. Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College provided post-secondary education and workforce training, and the Brandon Regional Health Centre served as the tertiary care facility for southwestern Manitoba.

The riding had been reliably Conservative for decades, but the 2013 by-election demonstrated that the seat was not beyond challenge — the Liberals nearly captured it amid frustration over proposed changes to the Canadian Wheat Board and other agricultural policy concerns. Oil extraction near Virden and in the broader southwest contributed to the local economy, though production volumes were modest compared to Saskatchewan and Alberta. Turtle Mountain Provincial Park along the U.S. border and Spruce Woods Provincial Park in the riding's northeast offered recreational opportunities and protected remnants of the native prairie landscape.