Local business owner Justin Wright has secured the nomination for the United Conservative Party in the riding of Medicine Hat.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Justin Wright will carry the United Conservative banner in this spring’s general election as the party’s candidate in the riding of Cypress-Medicine Hat.
The 38-year-old business owner won the nomination Thursday after voting by UCP members over nominee James Finkbeiner, riding association officials reported to the News.
“Ultimately going for the nomination was about stepping forward to make sure my children’s generation has it better,” said Wright.
“There are a lot of good things happening. We’ve got to make it great.”
Wright told debate crowds earlier this month he hopes to promote the region and act in concert with Premier Danielle Smith, who represents and will be running again in Brooks-Medicine Hat.
His primary focus for the province is to maintain a focus on “fiscal responsibility.”
“We’ve been fortunate in Alberta to have good finances, but what we have to do next is figure out how to break the boom and busts in our budgeting,” he said.
“The premier and Finance Minster (Travis Toews) did a really good job of not budgeting to the price of oil but coming in below that to brace it.”
Wright, who ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2021, was the manager at two separate large retail stores in Medicine Hat for a decade up to 2021 when he started a mobile food truck business, Fryer Tucks.
Two years later, the company also rents and operates concession locations at City of Medicine Hat arenas, the Medicine Hat Stampede and provides catering service as well.
Wright, a married father of three, is also the recent chair of the Spectrum Festival. He moved to Medicine Hat as a teenager with his parents in 1998.
He said during a candidate debate earlier this month that his experience becoming a father showed him the value of working with the maternity clinic at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, which closed after a funding dispute two years ago.
He strongly supports school choice as a matter of personal and property rights, he said.
On the infrastructure front, he supports continued highway development in the region and potentially reopening the Meridian Dam proposal to provide water storage and irrigation northeast of Medicine Hat.
The two major parties have their candidates set in the region ahead of an expected election on May 29.
New Democrat Cathy Hogg became her party’s candidate in late February when the school board trustee and rancher won a three-way race for the nomination.
Current MLA Drew Barnes, a former UCP candidate, has sat as an independent since 2021 and hasn’t yet announced his intention to run in the coming election.
The Alberta Party has said it is seeking a candidate to run in the south Medicine Hat regional riding after Leader Barry Morishita ran in the Brooks-Medicine Hat fall byelection.
