Svend served Burnaby as an MP for more than 25 years. He spoke to Our Time Vancouver organizers about “the vital connection between activism and politics, and his great admiration for the work of organizers on the outside”. He is an ally within the political sphere and an early champion for a made-in-Canada Green New Deal who is pushing the NDP to be bolder. He was arrested standing with social movements to stop clear cut logging during the War in the Woods and has a long record as an advocate for Indigenous sovereignty, gender equality and the environment.