Photo Courtesy Grant Berg Social Media

By Tanner Smith

Candidate profile

City of Grande Prairie Council Candidate Profile: Grant Berg

Sep 17, 2025 | 12:36 PM

Grant Berg is one of over 20 residents running for a City Council position.

He was asked to answer the following four questions with a 600-word limit.

1. What has inspired you to run for mayor/council/school trustee in the Oct. 20, 2025, municipal election?

This is my second time running having been elected this past term. Back then it took some convincing, I had a dozen people approach me to run 4 years ago telling the first eleven, no. The twelfth person made a comment that struck. I have always loved volunteering for groups that built the quality of life here, smaller organizations where I could move the needle and help build them up, like the Stompede, Storm, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, each organization grew stronger while I was part of their team. I wanted to continue that but the argument in getting me to run was essentially, we love what you do for all of these organizations but imagine how you can help so many more from a seat in city hall. That hit me, it was time to take my knowledge and advocacy and passion for a better community to the next level. It was always my intention, that if I was fortunate enough to get elected then I would run a minimum of two terms as I like to think bigger picture, it would be naive to think I could make the impact I want after just four years.

2. What skills or experience do you have that you feel would make you a good fit for the role?

I had a broad range of skillsets and experience going into the role and those have only gotten stronger over the past four years on council. My Non-profit experience includes the Chair of the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie during its construction. I rebuilt one high visibility business as it’s General Manager and launched my own business almost 10 years ago.

These roles give me exceptional knowledge in non-profits and how to help them and understand their struggle. With broadcasting, I was in it for 29 years, I am always pushing for stronger communication in every aspect of the city. As a business owner from start up, the realities of being a small business and the challenges we have had. In each case, I am builder, I build things that I set my mind to do and, in every case, bring something better and more dynamic to our city and region.

3. What do you feel are the key or main election issues in your community, and what are the issues of priority for you?

Strong advocacy with the province is always key, right now we have a strong focus on electricity distribution rates. We pay 3.5 times more for distribution than Edmonton or Calgary and double what southern Alberta pays. Alberta has 4 zones and ours has the most miles of line with the fewest people to pay for it, so on one hand it makes sense however, as the north is the economic engine for Alberta, the cost to live and the cost to produce our materials is disproportionate and we lose some competitive advantage. BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have resolved similar issues in their provinces, there is a solution, but that solution must come from the province, and we continue to advocate strongly for it. The other key issue for me is quality of life, my mission since moving here in 1991. We need to continue to make out city more attractive for people to invest in and move here. Attracting health care professionals is extremely competitive, we need to continue to create community where health care professionals among so many other industries want to move and raise a family, that requires investment in our city. If the city isn’t willing to invest in itself, why would anyone else want to?

4. Where can people learn more about you?

My favorite way is to chat, it’s easy to find my day job, it has my name on it, and I love to visit, come on in. I do have a website grantberg.ca and a Facebook page, Grant Berg for Grande Prairie.