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In this interview, Grant Hunter describes how he became involved in politics. He recounts an incident where his party leader threatened to remove his party membership if he did not agree with a party policy that he felt contradicted his religious beliefs and how he dealt with that situation. This interview was conducted on February 9, 2021, by Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch, a BYU student majoring in family life and minoring in civic engagement leadership.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: For a little bit of context, can you please tell us about your background, where you grew up, where you went to school, and anything else you want to share that is relevant?

Grant Hunter: I grew up in Alberta. I was a businessman before I was a politician and started some small businesses in Alberta. I did construction for so many years and lived in small rural Alberta. So I consider myself a regular Alberta farmer.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: I believe I read somewhere that you went to BYU for both your degrees. Is that correct?

Grant Hunter: So I went to BYU for my undergraduate and majored in economics and political science, and then for my master’s I did that at North Central University, and I got a master’s of business administration.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: And when did you first become interested in politics?

Grant Hunter: Actually, my family was very politically involved, so at a very young age I found politics very interesting and fascinating. But I had a patriarchal blessing where it’s very specific about my involvement in politics. I received my patriarchal blessing when I was fifteen years old, and I have known ever since then that I would be involved in politics at some point.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: What government or political positions have you served in and when have you served in them?

Grant Hunter: So I was elected on May 5, 2015—actually, on our wedding anniversary—my wife’s and my wedding anniversary. So I’m not sure she wanted me to give that as a gift to her as a wedding anniversary, but that’s what we got. I’ve served two terms. Well, two and a half terms, I guess, right now. When I was in my first term, I was a Wild Rose MLA, and we were in opposition. And in my second term, I was elected as the government. So we formed the government here in Alberta. We have a Westminster parliamentary system, which follows the British Commonwealth system and so we formed a government. And I was privileged to be asked to serve in cabinet, which is what they call the executive council. The premier is the leader, kind of like your governor, and then he has cabinet members, and they have to be MLAs—members of the legislative assembly. So I am serving as the associate minister of red tape reduction.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: What religious or political leaders have influenced you during your career?

Grant Hunter: So one of the books that I read every year is Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley, and that is, I think, one of the best books that I’ve ever read. In there he states that the world is in need of fewer politicians but more statesmen or stateswomen. And he describes the statesman as someone who will do what is best for the future, versus a politician, who will do what is best to get himself elected the next time. So I’ve always felt that is important: to make sure you do what is right for the future versus what is right for your political aspirations.

Abraham Lincoln was another inspirational leader, and I remember when I was very young, I read an autobiography of Abraham Lincoln. One of the things that I really liked about Abraham Lincoln was that it certainly portrayed him as a bumbling, you know, kind of gangly, backwoods kind of guy. But he was persistent; he overcame many obstacles, lots of great obstacles, in fact, all through his life and seem to be defined by his obstacles. And yet he was able to rise above it, and so he was a great inspiration to me as well.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: Why did you run for that public office?

Grant Hunter: So I was not ready to run for office in 2015. I had thought, when I was retired and I was old I would run for office. I know that maybe for a young person like you, that I am old, but at the time I felt like I wasn’t that old, and I still had lots of life in me. I wanted to continue doing business. But Alberta had been very good to my family. We’ve done very well here, and so I really wanted to give back at some point. But the other thing is, I was really concerned that the Alberta that I grew up in and then provided with so many opportunities for business and starting businesses was starting to erode. So I really wanted to get in there and fight for some kind of the future for my children and grandchildren, and that’s why I ran. That’s why I stepped forward in 2015. When I ran, we had a really good candidate that was going to run for our party in our area and, at the last minute, he dropped out. So I was asked to run. They didn’t give me a lot of time to think about it because I ran, and within one week the election was on us. We worked hard. I think that it had to be the will of God, because we were down in the polls by at least thirty points at the beginning, and at the end we won by about twenty points.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: How have the church teachings influenced your decision to become involved in politics? I know you mentioned President Hinckley’s book. Are there other ways that church teachings have inspired you to become involved in politics?

Grant Hunter: Yeah, I think that there’s ample evidence of the value of individuals, the intrinsic value of individuals, my religious beliefs help me to understand that intrinsic value of individuals. And so being able to just take a look at my constituents as people who I work for and being able to just take a look at their needs and to fight for their needs. I think it was crafted by my understanding and my religious beliefs. But, you know, it’s interesting because it’s not just my religion, I know lots of people up here that are part of my [party] caucus that are of other religions, other Christian religions, Buddhism, Islam, and they would probably say the same thing—that it’s their religion that has helped shape their mind. So they take a look at people in a good way, in a way that they’re not just numbers but they’re actually individuals and people who have that intrinsic value. So I think that that is something that religion can provide—provide us with that direction and help to see people in a different way than maybe someone else.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: Yeah, do you feel like your religion has helped serve as a bridge to understanding your colleagues that you work with who might come from different religious backgrounds?

Grant Hunter: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I have a real true belief that we’re all sons and daughters of God. I know that. So, when I take a look at the people around me, sometimes they do things that I don’t understand, sometimes they do things that that I disagree with, but I see them as passionately doing what they feel is right, and also that they are sons and daughters of God, and they need to be respected.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: How does your religion affect your approach to your office?

Grant Hunter: You know, one person, I think he was well-meaning, said to me, “You need to check your religion at the door,” and he was actually a member of our church. And I was disturbed by that thought. No, my religion actually helps define me, and, in fact, I would have to say my colleagues respect me because of my religious beliefs and because of how I think. I believe they feel, and they’ve told me this, that it makes me a better person and crafts the way I make decisions and look at people. I think people make religion too complicated. It’s just being kind to your neighbor. It’s loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. And my religion helps me do that. It helps remind me about why I’m doing what I’m doing and how to treat people.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: Did your religious beliefs affect the party you chose to affiliate with and, if so, how?

Grant Hunter: Yeah, it certainly did. You know, I think that generally speaking, conservative parties are more pro-life. In fact, the Liberal Party up here banned people from running if they’re pro-life, so you couldn’t run up here for the Liberal Party if you were a pro-life person. So I’m a pro-life politician, and you know people don’t agree with that, but they respect the fact that I have the right to be able to believe what I believe.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: What do you think should be the role of religion and politics?

Grant Hunter: Well, from an individual standpoint, I think that it plays a very important role, it helps craft the way we look at life and the way we look at the sanctity of life and the intrinsic value of individuals. But in terms of the separation of state and religion, I believe that’s important. There’s certainly evidence in our history where the religions have been so entwined with politics that it has had a very adverse effect on expansion of religions. On my wall I have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms from Canada. It specifically talks about the freedom of religion; freedom of religion is absolutely critical. But we shouldn’t be stating that one religion over another religion is the most important.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: Has your approach to particular policy issues been affected by your religious beliefs and, if so, how?

Grant Hunter: Yeah, it has, actually. There are certain things that I just, you know, that’s just a no-go, you can’t, I can’t go there, and so my religious beliefs help me know where that line is, and sometimes it’s tough to be able to know where that line is. When I was first elected in 2015, I remember getting in and just being wide-eyed and just like a deer in headlights. I just was not sure what was going on and how to be able to move forward. A bill was presented to us and what happens here is that as a caucus we come together, we present what the bill is going to be, and then we decide how we’re going to vote within the caucus rather than going out and just voting individually. I know it’s a little different down in the States, but up here it’s kind of more of a solidarity thing. And I remember listening to this bill and it was really about, in my mind, individual freedoms. It was a bill that said that if a man thought that he was a woman but didn’t look like a woman or talk like a woman or act like woman at all, but if they just thought in their mind that they were woman, they had the right under this bill to go into a women’s change room in a pool and go in and start changing in there. If a lady came up to him and said, “You need to get out,” and she persisted, he could say, “Look if you don’t stop, I will charge you with a hate crime.”

And I remember, as I listened to this, I thought well, wait a second now, what about the rights of that individual woman that’s not comfortable with it? Whether, you know, it is just in his mind he says he’s a woman. There could be pedophiles that would take advantage of this. Anyways, I brought all this up, and I said I can’t vote for this in good conscience. There is no possible way I can vote for this, and so the leader of my party at the time said to me that he would kick me out of the party if I didn’t. It was going to be a big media problem and, and so I didn’t know what to do. I went back to my office and called my wife—this was six months into being elected—and I said to her, “Well, sweetie, it looks like I’m going to get kicked out of the party.” And you know the great thing about my wife is she says, “No matter what, you stick to your guns.” That’s the exact right thing to say. Anyways, my leader came in afterwards, he said, “You’re pretty stubborn, aren’t you?” And I said, “Well, I don’t feel it’s stubbornness that’s determining why I’m saying what I’m saying. I believe it’s because of my upbringing, because of what I believe is my religion.” And I said, “I can’t in good conscience vote for this any way.” So he actually said, “Well, we’ve come up with the solution so we don’t kick you out.” Basically they just didn’t have me in the House when that bill came up, and that was kind of the compromise. So that was one of the ways that it certainly did affect me. I didn’t back down on that one, and so there is a line that, I think, because of what I’ve grown up on, is there.

Rebekah Leavitt-Hatch: What lessons have you learned about politics that you would like to share with young Latter-day Saints considering involvement in politics or career within government service?

Grant Hunter: Well, I think everybody needs to try to get involved. The saying is that when good people do not, evil prevails. And that is true; it is absolutely true. There is certainly a sense right now, though, with this new culture of cancellation, a cancel culture, I should say, where good people don’t want to stick their head up, they don’t want to get out there and fight for a better society, a civil society. And that’s sad. I think that that is not a good place to be. I think that good individuals still need to get involved in politics.