Image: Elenore Sturko / The B.C. Conservative Party says Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko has left BC United and joined their party as a way to “rebuild the coalition that’s needed to defeat the NDP.” Sturko won her seat in a by-election in 2022 with 52 per cent of the vote. She becomes the 4th MLA in the Conservative Party of B.C. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

BC United defection

BC United sees another MLA defect to BC Conservatives

Jun 3, 2024 | 9:36 AM

SOUTH SURREY — Just days after Cariboo-Chilton MLA Lorne Doerkson defected from BC United, the B.C. Conservative Party says Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko has left BC United and joined their party as a way to “rebuild the coalition that’s needed to defeat the NDP.”

According to a news release from the Conservative Party of B.C. Monday morning (June 3), Sturko is a former RCMP spokesperson and military veteran who was elected in a by-election in 2022 by winning 52 percent of the vote.

“It’s easy to dismiss the polls, but it’s impossible to dismiss what I hear on the doorstep when I’m talking to voters,” said Sturko. “Like the voters in my riding, I don’t believe the NDP deserve to win the next election, but when we split the vote we are handing them an election win, and four more years of a David Eby government that has not delivered on housing, public safety, affordability, healthcare, education, or mental health and addictions. Our province and its people are worse off today than they were just seven years ago when the NDP came to power. By every single measure the NDP has failed British Columbians, and splitting the vote will only reward them with an election victory they don’t deserve.”

On its website, the Conservative Party of B.C. said Sturko “thought long and hard” about making the move to the B.C. Conservatives and believes that “a real coalition for common sense change” is the key to winning the next election.

“On the biggest issues, including affordable housing, cancelling decriminalization of deadly drugs, fixing our broken healthcare system, making our streets safe, and putting our natural resources to work growing jobs and our economy, the Conservatives make sense as that new coalition,” added Sturko. “The BC Conservatives grassroots coalition is resonating with British Columbians as the party that can beat the NDP and bring back common sense to Victoria.”

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Conservative leader John Rustad said Sturko will be “a terrific addition to the team, and a practical example of the grassroots coalition that is growing across the province.”

“Elenore’s decision to join us reinforces that we are building a big tent, with room for everyone who wants to defeat the NDP and elect a common sense government that respects taxpayers hard earned wages,” said Rustad. “In the legislature, Elenore has distinguished herself by holding the government to account for its failed decriminalization of deadly drugs that has hurt every neighbourhood and community in our province. On these issues, and so many others, David Eby and the NDP have failed British Columbians. They have made our province unaffordable, rationed healthcare, raised taxes, and made it impossible to do business or get anything done in British Columbia. They have weakened our economy, and resorted to record-breaking deficits to paper over their failure to make life better for British Columbians.”

Sturko said she is committed to defeating the NDP and rebuilding BC’s economy, because “a strong economy makes everything possible.”

“I felt an obligation to put everyday, hardworking British Columbians first, the same way WAC Bennett, Bill Bennett, Gordon Campbell, and Christy Clark did,” said Sturko. “In BC the big tent coalition wins elections, and has a record of delivering for British Columbians. I want to help John Rustad build that grassroots coalition of conservatives, liberals, and independents into a winning team that can repair the damage caused by the NDP and their mismanagement and incompetence. British Columbians deserve more, and I believe the BC Conservatives can deliver that common sense change that everyday, hardworking people are looking for.”

Elenore Sturko will be running in Surrey-Cloverdale for the Conservative Party of BC.

Jody Toor remains a Conservative candidate and will be running for the Conservative Party of British Columbia in Langley Willowbrook, where she plans to open a second holistic wellness clinic this summer.

“I’m excited to welcome yet another MLA into our growing Conservative family, and I wanted to step up to make space for Elenore to join our grassroots, common sense coalition. We’re moms in politics — we have to support each other,” said Toor.