Musqueam executive and First Nations advocate Wade Grant is running for the Liberal party in the Vancouver-Quadra with housing, the climate crisis and mental health support as top priorities.
Grant, a Musqueam Indian Band councillor from 2004 to 2014 and Intergovernmental Affairs Officer since 2019, has long been involved in public service. After graduating from UBC, Grant served both in the Vancouver Police Department and a as special advisor to former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark from 2014 to 2017. He said he has been preparing “for years” to be a member of Parliament.
“I want to give back to the community knowing that my two children, Eli and Isla, are going to be growing up here,” said Grant in an interview with The Ubyssey.
Grant said if elected, he would advocate for affordable housing on all fronts, but especially for “anybody coming out of the university” or those with “a very long commute [who] can’t afford to live in Vancouver.”
“I don't call it affordability — I call it attainable housing,” said Grant.
Grant believes he brings a unique “two-eyed seeing” perspective to environmental conversations as a First Nations person, and he specifically raised concerns with declining salmon populations in the Fraser river, out-of-control wildfires and increased flooding.
“I grew up with a lot of First Nations leaders, elders, ancestors — teachings that can be really incorporated into the greater community,” Grant said on taking a holistic approach to tackling the climate crisis.
On April 7, Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed the need for internal oil infrastructure to increase autonomy from the US.
When asked about his position on oil infrastructure, Grant acknowledged the controversial nature of projects like pipelines in environmental circles before saying he would support a multilateral approach — including consultation with Indigenous groups — to such projects. On future pipelines, Grant additionally stressed the importance of project compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Grant also affirmed his support for mental health. The chair of the First Nations Health Council from 2021 to 2025, Grant helped to launch a 10-year strategy examining the social determinants of health and prioritizing policy recommendations for Indigenous communities.
“It's about their environments — homelessness, racism, climate change — and how those things affect them … how we can invest more into those,” he said.
Regarding affordability for students, Grant said he would seek to continue previous government initiatives, citing the Trudeau government's 2024 federal budget removing interest on student loans and the waiving of GST on new student residences, though he acknowledged a need to consult directly with students.
However, despite the fact that UBC’s 2025/26 budget cited decreased international enrollment as a driving factor behind decreasing anticipated revenue and faculty operating deficits, Grant said he’d not yet “delved deep” into the implications of decreased international student permits.
On ongoing international tensions, Grant said he supported Carney’s responses to threats to Canadian sovereignty from the US. Grant affirmed his support of responsive tariffs, and went on to list key local industries like forestry and mining as needing extra support.
Overall, Grant wants to continue retiring liberal incumbent Joyce Murray's advocacy for west-side Vancouver and the environment, and he said he would lean on Murray for advice when necessary.
“I'm a strong advocate for the university — it has given me my education and it's given me the opportunity to be here,” Grant said, and he concluded he would “always be a Thunderbird at heart.”
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