A former MLA who represented Spruce Woods is officially making the leap from provincial politics to federal.
Grant Jackson, who served as MLA for Spruce Woods from 2023 to 2025 before announcing his move to run for the federal Conservatives is projected to be the next MP for Brandon-Souris. As of press time, the 28-year-old Jackson was comfortably leading at the polls with over 18,000 votes and 63.3 percent of the vote share.
“I’m just so humbled that the people of Brandon-Souris have put their faith in me,” Jackson said from his campaign’s election party at Joe Beeverz in Brandon. “I’m obviously a little younger than some of the politicians in the past that have knocked on their doors. I want to make sure that they know I’m going to work hard for them. I worked hard for every vote in this campaign.”
Jackson switched from provincial to federal politics in March of 2025 following the retirement of longtime MP Larry Maguire, for whom Jackson had worked in the past. He was quick to point to Maguire’s mentorship as part of the reason for his win.
“Larry Maguire has been an excellent Member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris, there’s absolutely no doubt about that,” said Jackson. “He’s been a friend and a mentor to me. We’re different people, so you’ll find as time goes on that we do parts of the job differently, but there’s certainly a mentorship there and I don’t think constituents will feel there’s a huge change in their representation.”
Grant Jackson (left) and former MP Larry Maguire (right). Photo by Rob Mahon.
The result locally was very much to Jackson’s liking, but the national result wasn’t what the Conservatives were hoping for. As of this writing, all projections point to a Liberal minority government.
“Right now the Liberals are up, we’re obviously disappointed by that,” Jackson said. “We had hoped for a strong Conservative government to be elected. We believe this country needed change. Now, what you’re seeing is the Liberal’s numbers and the Conservative’s numbers are tight. That is sending a message to Mark Carney and the Liberal Party that they cannot be four more years of the last ten. They need to change the way they do things, the way they engage with the Canadian public.”
When asked about his main goals for his first term, Jackson brought up increased support for pipelines, and upgrades to the Brandon Airport.
Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett (right) shakes hands with MP for Brandon-Souris Grant Jackson. (Photo by Rob Mahon)
“There is so much potential in the Brandon Airport and I know this is something the Mayor is focused on here in the city,” he said. “That facility is an asset for us, it was invested in by the last Conservative government. We know there’s a lot of talk right now about adding an eastern passenger route. I think that would be incredible.”
Jackson thanked his supporters for giving him the opportunity at his relatively young age and said he hoped it would mark the beginning of greater opportunities for younger politicians. He also said the economy and cost of living and relations with the United States amid the threat of a trade war were the two issues he found most prominently on people’s minds when he knocked on their doors.
