Currently working in oil and gas as a directional driller, Grant Prior pitches himself as the working class candidate for Calgarians.
He compares his struggle to balance time spent working on the oil patch and time spent with his family to the struggle faced by the nurse pulling a double or the cab driver taking a few extra rides to make ends meet.
The Calgary father of three’s campaign focuses on four main issues: human-centered capitalism, housing affordability, homelessness and transit.
On his website, Prior says he hopes to leave some lasting change that makes the city better for everybody.
The Calgary Journal spoke with Prior as part of our civic election coverage.
More about Grant Prior
Instagram: grant_prior
Website: grantprior.ca
Facebook: PRIOR for MAYOR
TikTok: priorformayor
7 Questions with Grant Prior
This interview was edited for clarity and length.
Why are you running for mayor?
Man, I get this question all the time. Which makes sense, obviously. You know what I think? Why not? For too long, working class people like myself are usually so busy working and grinding and trying to make a living, keeping our heads above water that we don’t get the opportunity to really do it and working in the oil field, especially like. I’m gone a lot, I’ve sacrificed a lot of my life. So I have an opportunity now. My kids are a little bit older. It’s a little bit easier for us. I don’t have to worry so much about them. So I was like, you know what, I’m gonna give this a shot because I love politics. It’s literally in everything that we do and so often we just kind of take it for granted. And we don’t. We don’t stand up, you know, we complain, we all complain or think we could do something different. So I thought, you know what? I’m going to stop complaining. I’m just going to put my money where my mouth is and roll the dice. Let’s see what happens. Here we are.
Is that the approach you went into it with is more of a “let’s see what happens” kind of thing?
Well, I went into it with the idea that I could. That my voice would resonate because I think my struggle is no different than anybody else’s. The working class people and the working class people’s bloc is the largest voting group there is. So I figured that was something that would resonate. The question is just like, how can I get my message out there? How are people going to see it? Because, and I hate this now, it’s funny how I’ve already kind of progressed as I went through this process. The idea of saying I’m not a politician, I kind of don’t like it anymore. It’s kind of cringe because it kind of separates me, but not in like. It’s because I’m just. I guess. You know how in Hollywood movies now, it’s too bad. They don’t really show you. They tell you. I don’t want to tell anybody anymore. I should just show them. They get that feeling when talking to me like this or meeting me on the street. You definitely know I’m not. I’m not the regular in the box kind of person. Which I love that idea and I think it resonates with lots of people. But I went in with the idea of I’m just, you know, I win, I lose, I’m doing this to the end.
What are your most pressing issues as a candidate and how will you solve them?
Economics. That is the core of all of it. It’s the core of everything that we’re doing well and it’s the core of everything we’re doing wrong. Basically what I mean by that is our working class, middle class is dying. Wealth distribution now is to the top. This idea of trickle down economics, I think we’re seeing it for what it is, it’s not real it’s not what happens. I kind of subscribe to a French economist named Thomas Piketty, his idea of how economics works. Basically the idea that once wealthy people get the ability to not pay property taxes and aren’t being taxed properly, they’re going to use that wealth and put it into things. And so what they do is they end up buying capital and assets but they buy assets from the working class and it stops us from doing that same thing and getting into the market. So housing prices like my kids, I love my kids. They are amazing. But they will never leave my basement. They’re going to be here forever because they can’t afford a house. It’s insane. The economy itself is just broken. So my whole thing is it’s called human centered capitalism. And basically it’s people before profits. But more than that, it’s people before corporations or conglomerates. My underlying theory is tax wealth, not work. What’s better for Calgary as an economy? A $1 billion conglomerate that makes money here and then sucks it out and gives it to shareholders somewhere else or a thousand small businesses that make $1 million and they keep that here, you know. The best part of a thriving economy is having a strong middle class, a strong working class, and we do not have that. So that’s my main focus and I am just going to do that by taxing, taxing conglomerates, taxing foreign investments that are buying up single family homes, those types of things to make more houses on the market and relieve working class families.
What would you say to more conservative voters who may call some of your policies communist or something similar and dismiss your candidacy because of it?
This is what I do, working on the oil rig, I debate endlessly, people on the right. And so. Okay, I think we have a lot of buzzwords they use that they don’t truly understand what that means. I went to Cuba. I worked there for three years. I know what communism is. It’s not good. That’s not what I’m saying that I want. There’s a healthy balance there between a system that works for everybody and one that doesn’t. And I think we can look at capitalism in itself. What’s happening right now is it’s not capitalism, it’s not small seed capitalism. It’s crony capitalism. It’s this wealth distribution and inequality to the top. And that’s only crushing us. And you,. The only tool that we really have against it is taxation, is to say we need to up the tax rate. And if you look back in history we’ve done this before, it’s not like some groundbreaking thing. After World War Two, we had a high rate of tax for large corporations and the wealthy that helped us. But as soon as we got into the 80s and Reaganomics, they ended up lowering the tax rate. And then, I mean, it’s not. People look at this like it’s the people that are at the top are evil. I don’t think they’re evil at all. I think what ended up happening was you just. You have excess funds. So now you’re like, okay, what can I do with this? Oh, I can buy capital. I can buy assets. And then eventually you just suck it all at the top. Like right now, the working class in Canada. The bottom 40% make up 3% of the wealth. The top 1% makes up 30%. Like that’s insane. And even in the middle. We used to hold about 50% of the wealth. Now we hold 40%. What ends up happening is you take. That top wealthy piece takes first from the lowest, and then it slowly rises up there. So now they’re doing that with housing, right?. This is what I would say to my conservative friends because they hate this statement. But it’s true. The World Economic Forum when they said, you’ll own nothing and be happy like, oh, my conservative buddies. But that’s what capitalism is doing. It is making that possible. It’s making that happen. Where all that’s available is rentals because large conglomerates are coming and buying everything up. So I think you just. We can’t get stuck on buzzwords because bundlers. They’re the emotional thing. Right? But we have to drill down a little bit. And when you look at the economics itself, it’s not going in the right direction.
I’m 23. When you were my age what did you think of a big city mayor? And going off of that, how are you going to appeal to young people?
You guys are the most important voting bloc. Realistically, anything that I do is going to affect you far more than it’s going to affect me. It’s not like I’m going to die tomorrow, but I’m closer than you are, And I’m closer than you guys are. And you’re the exact age of my kids. 20, 22 and 24, So we have to as politicians, we don’t just pass a law for four years in the future. It has to be something for longer. And so you guys, I understand you’re the most important thing. Perfect example like the rezoning issue that’s happening. Right? That’s a generational issue because you guys need homes. I mean we need homes. I’ve said it a couple of times. Maybe it’s one of those politician things now where you say it all the time, but, a lot of the other guys are going to tell you, you need homes, we need homes. Game of Thrones. You ever seen the show? Anything before the. But. doesn’t matter, right? I say we need homes, period. Because you guys need homes. And then for the older generation, because of our capitalistic system, they’ve built their wealth into their homes. And so they’re getting close to, you know, they’ve lived long in life and they’re trying to hoard what they have. Because they don’t want to lose value in their houses. But if you don’t get into a house. That’s been the largest generator of wealth and stability for three generations. So you directly not getting into a house means you’re probably not going to want to have a family, because you can’t afford it. Then what does that do for the future of our society without you having a family, without you having the capital to actually pay for things and buy things. So I could easily do what some of these other people have done where they go. I know the largest voting bloc is the elderly, because they vote. They’re not the largest voting bloc per person, but they vote. And they’re appeasing them. But they’re actually doing that against your best interests. They’re hurting you. And so for me, I said, look, yes, I want to win in 20 days, but I also want this message to go that. I’m speaking for you because I know that you are the most important thing. I mean, that’s what parents do, right? We sacrifice. That’s the whole point. I would sacrifice for my kids in a second and I would sacrifice for you. So we have to look at it, well, really the most important voting bloc is you guys. You guys just need to freaking vote. That’s the problem but I mean, who votes under 20? I wasn’t, I definitely wasn’t doing this kind of call. At least you’re involved like I was out killing brain cells and being an idiot. So I love this and you guys are far more active and civically aware and just, I mean, you guys are just way more aware because of social media I guess, just has really drowned you? I don’t know, but you’re the most important one by far. When I talk to kids at the university, I’m able to make that come through because that’s where my stances have been, like, I’m for rezoning. Let’s densify. Let’s give you guys some homes.
How do you want to see the city prosper?
Well, I want to see the city prosper. That’s where it starts. And I think nowadays especially, things are so divided. If you’re on the right, you are a certain person, if you are on the left, you’re a certain person. And I haven’t met any of these people. I always meet everyone down the middle for the most part, we have slight differences and variations. This will age me. There used to be a time when you could meet somebody and talk to them about politics and no one freaked out, even if you didn’t agree. Like no one lost their marbles. And we have definitely entered this time where that is not the case. People can’t have these discussions because just like you mentioned about communism or whatever these words, we have this society that’s moved so quickly with different types of like, oh, no, this guy’s that guy, and this person’s that person. And we put everybody in boxes. I would really like to break those boxes because I don’t think they’re helping, they’re hurting right? They’re not allowing us to see each other for who we really are. And just because I’m a guy on the oil rig doesn’t mean that’s all that I am a certain way., I’ve got a lot of different pieces to me, and I’m sure so do you. And so as a mayor, I would love to bring those things together and say, look, I’m a working class person but I can speak for the teacher that’s grading papers at home, or I can speak for the construction worker or for you, because we make such a huge voting bloc, I can speak for all those people and bring them together and not get ourselves separated on left and right or these ridiculous policies that end up driving us to the edges. It’s got to stop. And the reason that I, like me for mayor, is because I think, especially in this type of format where people can actually see me. I’m still really nervous on stage, so it’s hard for me to try and balance that. Here they can see that I genuinely. I give a shit and I actually care and I want to help them, and I want to leave something better for my kids and for my grandkids, because that’s really all it’s about. You know, like I said before, I’m not on my deathbed or anything. I just think we’ve got to do something better than we’re doing. And there’s so much division, and I think. It’s tiring. Aren’t you tired of it? I’m tired of it.
When you’re not running for mayor, what do you do in your downtime?
Bug my wife. You know, truthfully, because I do work away so often, the time that I’m home, man, I am home. So, just bugging my wife and she will definitely concur. Hanging out with my kids. I’m lucky in the fact that, like, I can say that my kids are my friends. Which I love, that I can have that kind of relationship with them. I do work out and go hiking and stuff like that, but, I mean, I’m kind of a homebody in a way. I like just being here and, yeah,, I mean, I’m almost 50. I’m 47. So the real important things are the relationships
Watch the video of Calgary Journal reporter Nash Hanna speaking with Grant Prior. The video was edited for clarity and length.
