The British Columbia Conservative Party has gained another MLA at the expense of the BC United Party.United leader Kevin Falcon told a Vancouver radio station 980 Talk that he considered Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko’s decision to cross the floor to sit with the Conservatives in what he called a ”personal betrayal.”Sturko has sat as Falcon’s shadow minister of mental health, addiction and recovery since she was first elected in a by-election in 2022.She becomes the upstart Conservative’s fourth MLA since former BC Liberal MLA John Rustad crossed the floor to revive the Conservatives last year.Sturko and Rustad held a press conference in the BC Legislature rotunda at 10 a.m. Pacific time..In a statement, Sturko said she crossed the floor to avoid vote splitting between BC United and Falcon’s Conservatives which have consistently outpolled the former in the run up to this fall’s provincial election in October.“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,” she said.“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.”The Conservatives have alternatively challenged for first against the ruling NDP but remain a solid second ahead of Falcon’s former Liberals.Sturko is a former RCMP spokesperson and a military vet who was elected with 52% of the vote in her riding.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. She identified affordable housing, decriminalization of deadly drugs and public safety and natural resource development — such as LNG — as priorities..On these issues, Eby and the NDP have failed British Columbians, added Rustad..“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 will be running in the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale which presently represented by fellow Conservative Jody Toor, remains a Conservative candidate and will be running in Langley Willowbrook, where she plans to open a holistic wellness clinic this summer..Sturko becomes the second BC United member to defect since Friday, when caucus chair Lorne Doerkson announced his intention to join the rival Conservatives.United leader Falcon said the decision was motivated by polls.A recent Angus Reid survey has the NDP at 41%, the Conservatives with 30%, and BC United fighting for a distant third at 16% followed by the Greens at 11%.
