B.C. United MLA Elenore Sturko defects to Conservatives
CBC
Another high-profile B.C. United MLA has crossed the floor to join the B.C. Conservatives, in the latest blow to the official Opposition.
Elenore Sturko, MLA for Surrey South, made the announcement at the legislature Monday morning standing next to B.C. Conservatives Leader John Rustad.
She said some might call it a "plot twist" but "we can only ignore the polls so long."
Sturko will run in the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale in the provincial election later this year.
She said she "thought long and hard" about making the move.
"It was a tough decision and ultimately I decided that I wanted to do the right thing and that is to join John and his team," said Sturko. She said the B.C. Conservatives are leading a "grassroots movement" that she believes can defeat the governing B.C. NDP in the next election.
On Friday, B.C. United's caucus chair Lorne Doerkson defected to the B.C. Conservatives.
Doerkson, MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin, said the Oct. 19 election is "simply too consequential" and his constituents want to see a Conservative government.
Sturko said she's lost faith in B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon.
"If you are the leader of a coalition, you have one job. And that is to bring people together and keep people together. And Kevin Falcon failed at that job," she said.
During a press conference in Vancouver Monday, Falcon said he's "disappointed and shocked" at Sturko's decision.
Falcon said Sturko is joining a party that "she has long disavowed to me and to caucus as being too extremist."
B.C. United has been sagging in major opinion polls, falling a distant third place behind the provincial NDP and Conservatives.
B.C. United and the B.C. Conservatives had held talks to discuss a non-compete deal in certain ridings but they fell apart last month.
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.