Brother describes 66-year-old veteran killed in Saskatchewan stabbings as 'always smiling'
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Orlen Burns picks up a photo of his late brother, Earl Burns. There are several on the table, but this one is Orlen's favourite of the bunch.
It shows a young Earl about to compete at a rodeo — clutching the reins on a horse that's ready to try and buck him off.
"He was always smiling," said Orlen. "Always smiling, no matter what."
There was a wake for Earl on Tuesday. Family and friends ate soup and baked goods while they told stories of Earl and looked at his photos.
Earl was one of 10 people violently killed on Sept. 4 during a stabbing rampage — Saskatchewan's deadliest mass killing.
The 66-year-old veteran was from James Smith Cree Nation, where the violence started early in the morning.
Myles Sanderson, 32, the main suspect in the violent attacks on the Cree nation and nearby community of Weldon, Sask., died after going into medical distress shortly after he was arrested last Wednesday. The Saskatoon Police Service is investigating Sanderson's death and will be supervised by the Saskatchewan serious incident response team.
His brother Damien Sanderson, 31, who was also facing charges in the attacks, was found dead in a heavily grassed area of the James Smith Cree Nation two days after the violence.
Orlen says his family called him that morning to say Earl was dead.
The entire family lives in James Smith Cree Nation, so Orlen got in his truck and drove to Earl's house to check on him.
On the way, he saw a school bus in a ditch with the motor running — the same bus Earl used to bring kids to school.
Orlen says he ignored it at first and continued, but when no one answered at Earl's house, Orlen went back to check on the bus. At that point, it was around 7:30 a.m. CST.
"I went to the bus, and I could see him lying on the floor. He was already dead when I went in the bus. He was lying in his own blood" said Burns.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.