Photo courtesy: Legislative Assembly of B.C.

By Canadian Press

B.C. politics

Another BC United member abandons party for Conservatives

Jun 3, 2024 | 9:24 AM

VICTORIA — Another BC United member has left the party to join the Conservative Party of BC just months before the provincial election.

Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko says in a statement that she’s joining the provincial Conservatives to “rebuild the coalition that’s needed to defeat the NDP.”

Her move comes after Lorne Doerkson, the former BC United caucus chair, defected from the party on Friday, bringing the number of Conservative members of the legislature to four.

Sturko, a former RCMP spokesperson and military veteran, was elected in a by-election in 2022, 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.”

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Sturko said she “thought long and hard” about making the move to the BC 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.”

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.”