Grant Jackson new MP for Brandon-Souris
Federal Election
May 7, 2025, 1:14 pm
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Newcomer Grant Jackson has won for the Conservatives in the riding of Brandon-Souris. The former MLA for Spruce Woods decided to run for the federal job after previous Conservative MP Larry Maguire announced he would not seek re-election due to a medical condition.
With 62.5 per cent of the votes, Jackson claimed the seat followed by Liberal Ghazanfar Ali with 23.2 per cent, and NDP Quentin Robinson with 14.4 per cent.
Just over 66 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in Brandon-Souris, a Conservative stronghold since the riding was formed, except for four years when the Liberal party formed a majority government in 1993.
Jackson brings youth to the table, being the youngest-serving MP for the riding since its inception in 1953. At 28, he is eager to represent the people of Westman.
“The five weeks certainly flew by,” Jackson said the day following the election, when he was busy collecting his campaign signs. “The constituency is very large, and I did my best to get to every community, as well as knock on as many doors in the City of Brandon as I could. I put on quite a few miles and a lot of pounding of pavement, but I think we had a very good campaign here focused on local issues as well as the topics on the national level. It was very respectful. I give a lot of credit to my team and an excellent group of volunteers who came out from all corners of Brandon-Souris to support me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
As for the election night results, Jackson called the experience “humbling.”
“I am certainly humbled by the amount of support that I received last night when the ballots were cast,” he said. “It’s very humbling, and I know that the people of Westman have sent me to Ottawa on their behalf with a big ‘to-do’ list. There’s a lot of issues in this country that Parliament needs to be solving. I know there’s a lot of work ahead of me—I’m out picking up election signs right now—and then the work begins as soon as the campaign wraps up.”
As for the voter turnout, Jackson was buoyed by the support.
“I think that turnout is higher than it’s been in some of the more recent past elections, so it shows that voters are paying attention,” he said. “They were engaged this election, and I think the support that both Dan (Mazier, Riding Mountain MP) and I received just shows that people were ready for change in Ottawa, and they strongly supported our Conservative Party’s common sense platform and our plan to address some of the challenges that Canada is facing. So that gives me an incredible grounding to get to work with.”
Now that the ticker-tape has been picked up, Jackson looks forward to rolling up his sleeves in Ottawa.
“My first hope is that Mr. Carney recalls Parliament right away,” he said. “Parliament hasn’t sat in a number of months, and there’s a lot of issues to be discussing and debating on the floor of the House of Commons. So Parliament needs to get back into session, we need to get to work, and I hope he does that quickly. It’s a tight parliament. It’s a tight split. We gain some seats, and we know the NDP are not really a factor, so the Bloc Québécois will play a role that will be an interesting dynamic with the separatists in that position. It’s important that we get to work and try to find common ground to deliver on the items that Canadians are asking us to deliver on. Mark Carney made a lot of promises over the course of this election campaign, and we’re going to hold him to account to ensure that he’s delivering for Canadians.”
Affordability was a major concern Jackson heard from people in his riding while door-knocking, a common theme for many months prior to the election call.
“That was top of mind at almost every door, whether it was young people starting a family, or seniors on a fixed income,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to get grocery prices down. We’ve got to make some improvements on affordability, on housing prices. We know we need to build more homes, and the cost of homes needs to come down.”
Promises to the agriculture and natural resource sectors are also areas where Jackson feels the feds need their feet held to the fire.
“Our oil and gas and ag sectors are top of mind, they’re hurting right now,” Jackson said. “They’ve been hurting under the last 10 years of Liberal policies. Mr. Carney promised he’d be different, so we’ll see. We’re going to hold him to that commitment, because we know those sectors need our support.”
In particular, people are wondering if there actually will be a pipeline built as Carney suggested.
“Mr. Carney said he’s in favour of getting our resources to market, so the only way to do that is with a pipeline,” Jackson said. “He needs to get building and fulfill those commitments that he made to Canadians.”
Finally, Jackson paid tribute to his predecessor Larry Maguire, who held the MP seat om Brandon-Souris since 2013.
“He was a great Member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris, just an excellent guy, and I certainly do have big shoes to fill,” Jackson said of Maguire. “There’s a lot of work ahead.”
