Sheriff who died in train collision ‘loved everybody’

Brett Matheson-Maytwayashing was a loving father, hard-working sheriff and proud First Nations man who helped lead traditional ceremonies for a decade, before he died in a collision with a train near Portage la Prairie.

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After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. Brett Matheson-Maytwayashing was a loving father, hard-working sheriff and proud First Nations man who helped lead traditional ceremonies for a decade, before he died in a collision with a train near Portage la Prairie. Matheson-Maytwayashing, 27, died in the Tuesday morning crash, which occurred on a rural road west of Portage while he and another sheriff’s officer were on their way to attend court in Amaranth, his mother, Alisa Matheson-Maytwayashing, told the Free Press.

It was Matheson-Maytwayashing’s first day back at work, after taking time off to participate in a sun dance ceremony in northern Saskatchewan last week, his mother said. “Brett didn’t judge anybody, he would give people chances,” she said, her voice breaking with a sob. “He didn’t care what colour you were, he didn’t care your nationality — Brett just loved everybody.”

Matheson-Maytwayashing was a member of Lake Manitoba First Nation, an Ojibwa community located about 200 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. He and his family moved to Portage la Prairie when he was a baby, and he considered that city to be his home, his mother said. He joined the sheriff’s office around 2023 or 2024, as the provincial government was preparing to shutter the Manitoba Development Centre in Portage, where he previously worked.

He was also trained as a health-care aid and worked in bylaw enforcement for the Commissionaires. It was not uncommon for him to hold multiple jobs at various times in his life, his mother said. Derek Matheson, his father, said the pair worked side-by-side to host sun dance ceremonies in Lake Manitoba and elsewhere for the past 10 years.

In addition to dancing, he was a trusted carrier for ceremonial water, pipes, sweat lodges and shake tents. “That’s who he was... he followed all the teachings.

He followed that humility,” his father said. “It was so loving to just be around him. He was gifted to change the environment to a more positive one.”

His mother said Matheson-Maytwayashing strove to be a positive role model and encouraged youth to abstain from drugs and alcohol, as he had done his entire life. He is survived by his partner and children, aged nine and four. Manitoba RCMP is leading an investigation into the fatal crash.

Investigators believe Matheson-Maytwayashing was driving a sheriff’s van southbound on Road 40 West in the Rural Municipality of Portage when it collided with the train and rolled, landing in the ditch. The other passenger, who his family identified as a colleague, suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precaution. Matheson-Maytwayashing’s mother said investigators spoke with the passenger and determined her son was not distracted by his phone at the time of the crash.

RCMP spokesperson Kevin Engstrom said CN Police and Manitoba Workplace Health and Safety are assisting with the investigation. Officials from all three organizations were at the crash scene. “A traffic reconstructionist from RCMP Traffic Services worked at the scene on Tuesday to help determine how the collision occurred while other officers conducted interviews, protected the scene and — once all evidence was gathered — arranged transport of the van from the scene,” Engstrom said.

The cause of the collision remains under investigation. CN Rail declined to comment on the investigation, deferring a request to the RCMP. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

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