Brandon Sun Advertisement Drug overdose deaths nearly doubled in Brandon in 2020, a trend mirrored across Manitoba. In 2019, there were seven deaths attributed to drug overdoses reported in the city, according to Brandon police, but in 2020 that jumped to 12. Brandon and Area Overdose Awareness chair Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette, left, and Samaritan House Ministries executive director Barbara McNish in 2020. Drug overdose deaths nearly doubled in Brandon in 2020, a trend mirrored across Manitoba. (Submitted) Manitoba as a whole experienced 372 overdose deaths in 2020, an 87 per cent surge over the year before, according to data from Manitoba’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The increase is "staggering," said Brandon and Area Overdose Awareness chair Antoinette Gravel-Ouellette and the pandemic is largely to blame.