24. Wade Grant

Special Advisor to the Premier

Age: 37 | 2013: #31Wade Grant was called on recently to welcome an incoming class of UBC students. He did it gracefully, evoking the history of his Musqueam people in a way that made clear that he remembers the past without being embittered by it. Then he had to leave for his job at Premier Christy Clark’s office. He was named her special adviser on First Nations issues in June 2014; Clark called him her “relationship guide.” He has since been convening groups to talk with the province about the many unresolved issues with B.C. First Nations.Grant, not yet 40, has made a name for himself as an ambassador for the Musqueam and a bridge between two worlds. He lives on the Musqueam reserve with his wife and two children but doesn’t isolate himself there. His mother is former Musqueam chief Wendy Grant, his stepfather the former NDP minister Ed John. He himself was a band councillor for several years and, until recently, also the Musqueam’s economic development manager. Small wonder that he’s been courted by more than one political party. He’s interested in politics, he tells these suitors, only if it directly helps his community.

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