Premier Danielle Smith joins Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright for a town hall discussion at the Medicine Hat College theatre in March 2025. Wright has been named chief government whip following a small cabinet shakeup forced by a minister's resignation.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
In a set of shakeups to the Alberta government cabinet and caucus leadership announced this week, Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Justin Wright has taken on a new role as the chief government whip for the UCP caucus.
The role of the chief government whip is to facilitate communications between members of the United Conservative Party, ensure attendance in chamber and committee and uphold party discipline.
The new position comes with additional remuneration totalling $12,386 for Wright.
“I am greatly honoured for the trust that the premier had for me to put me into this role,” said Wright in an interview with the News on Friday. “It came as a very welcome New Year’s surprise.”
Wright says he believes he was chosen for the position on account of his relationships with his caucus colleagues. He says he sees team-building as a central part of his role.
“When I think of the whip role, it’s a matter of gauging the mood of colleagues and making sure that we know about issues that are going to come up and that we’ve got solutions in place to try to work through them as well,” he said.
Wright is taking over the position after the previous whip, Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter, was appointed Minister of Environment and Protected Areas following the news that Rebecca Schulz resigned from the position effective Jan. 2.
Schulz, who has represented the riding of Calgary-Shaw since 2019, will resign her position in caucus entirely in May.
Wright says he wishes Schulz the best in her endeavours after leaving office.
“It’s a great opportunity for her – she’s talking about spending a lot more time at home, as well as some more time in the private sector. So I understand that this is a great choice that was made for her and her family,” he said.
In a press conference Friday following the swearing-in ceremony for Wright and Hunter, Smith shut down rumours that the UCP government is planning to call a spring election.
“I’m not quite sure why everyone is so anxious to rush to an election. The incredible polling I’ve seen suggests we’d do very, very well in an early election,” said Smith.
“We have fixed election dates in this province for a reason, so people can have certainty and do their planning. We’ve got a mandate that we want to execute over the next two years, and we intend to continue doing so.”
Wright likewise says his party is not considering an early election.
“There’s no real basis for when we would see an election outside of the pre-determined election date of October 2027,” he said.
He adds that the provincial electoral boundary commission, which will establish two new ridings in the province, isn’t expected to complete its review until the spring session of the legislature.
Smith also responded to a question about rumours that the government will amend ita recall legislation. Twenty-four UCP MLAs and two NDP MLAs are currently facing recalls, including outgoing Smith, Wright and outgoing minister Schulz.
Smith says the current legislation outlines exclusion windows that prevent new petitions from being issued in the 12 months leading up to and following a general election.
“That exclusion window would begin in October of 2026, so I would anticipate, if there’s going to be changes, that would be the time we would make them,” said Smith.
