Career
He first sat with the governing Social Cr caucus and then as an Independent in 1946 after he was expelled. Wray ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time in the 1944 Alberta general election as a Social Cr candidate. Wray was trailing in second place on the first count.
The winter of 1946 would bring a series of terrific snow storms to the town of Cochrane, Alberta.
The storms paralyzed the town and the areas to north, causing school children to miss 63 out of 114 school days. Wray lobbied Public Work"s minister William Fallow to begin clearing the provincial main and secondary highways that became impassable outside of the town.
Fallow refused to give any priority to Cochrane and said the government does not clear secondary highways. He dismissed a delegation from the town including Wray who went to Edmonton to meet with the minister.
Wray lost the battle with the cabinet to clear the roads.
He continued to be a Social Cr government supporter but tensions between him and his caucus and the ministry began to rise. This came to a head in February 1947 when the Assembly moved and voted on a motion forcing Wray to cross the floor to the opposition benches. Speaker Peter Dawson forced Wray to move by not recognizing him as a speaker in the debate because he wasn"t at his desk which was now on the opposition side.
Wray took his desk in protest but failed in his bid to return to the government side of the house.
He was forced to move a second time when the Army, Navy, Airforce caucus objected to Wray sitting with them. He was moved to the other end of the opposition benches to sit with Veterans" and Active Force Modern Language Association William J. Williams.
Wray would run for re-election in the 1948 Alberta general election as an Independent Social Cr candidate. He would face Laut and former Cochrane Modern Language Association William King.
The election was hotly contested with Wray finishing second on the first ballot.
The elimination of King gave Wray enough second choice votes to finish ahead of Laut and hold his district. Wray would run for a third term in the 1952 Alberta general election. He would be easily defeated by Social Cr candidate Lee Leavitt finishing a very distant third place.
Wray would run once more for a seat as an Independent candidate in the Calgary electoral district in the 1955 Alberta general election.
He would be not be much of a contender finishing very distant in the field of candidates.
