Centre BC leader Elenore Sturko running in Surrey South for provincial election<\/p>\n
Published 1:09 pm Friday, September 25, 2026<\/p>\n
CentreBC Party leader Elenore Sturko is returning to her roots, and running in the riding she was first elected in four years ago, Surrey South.<\/p>\n
Sturko, who was elected to the Surrey South riding in a 2022 byelection when former MLA Stephanie Cadieux left electoral politics to become Canada\u2019s first Chief Accessibility Officer, said she just recently made the decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where I was first elected in 2022 in a byelection, and this is where I live. So I wanted to come back to my home riding for this campaign,\u201d Sturko said Friday (Sept. 25). \u201cI think that this is a really pivotal moment in British Columbia, and I wanted to campaign where I began my political career, here in Surrey South. It\u2019s a community that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sturko noted that she is grateful for her time in Cloverdale, and has \u201cloved serving the people of Cloverdale,\u201d saying that between Surrey South and Surrey-Cloverdale, she and her office have served more than 1,500 cases from the public where they provide assistance in connecting people to government services and helping them navigate problems they\u2019re experiencing because of gaps in provincial services. <\/p>\n
Some political pundits and social media users have said those who vote for CentreBC will simply, split the vote and hand the NDP government another win, but Sturko doesn\u2019t necessarily see it that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that what we\u2019re doing is offering an alternative,\u201d Sturko said. \u201cThere are people who have said that they don\u2019t want to vote for the NDP after nine years and how (NDP leader) David Eby in particular has created a humongous economic downturn for us (and) created the largest provincial debt in our province\u2019s history, but also people who don\u2019t feel that they can vote for the Conservatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has heard from \u201ca large portion of people\u201d who have said they\u2019d rather stay home and not vote, or spoil their ballots \u201cbecause they just couldn\u2019t bring themselves to vote for the other two parties.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel that we\u2019re that alternative for those individuals who wouldn\u2019t otherwise be feeling comfortable in participating in the democratic process. And if we can get people out and voting and participating in our democratic process \u2026 it\u2019s actually part of our civic duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sturko added that, after witnessing the \u201cchaos of the Conservatives over the last two years, a lot of people don\u2019t feel that they\u2019re the stable option, and they just can\u2019t support another four years of the NDP after nine disastrous years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sturko was removed from the BC Conservative caucus last September. After sitting as an independent, she joined CentreBC earlier this month. <\/p>\n
CentreBC has a vision for a balanced approach to government, and to make British Columbia a safer, more affordable, and prosperous province to call home, according to the party website, and Sturko agreed. <\/p>\n
\u201cCentreBC \u2014 our plan and our vision for British Columbia, the vision that I\u2019m bringing forward, is one where we create a British Columbia that works with Ottawa and our federal partners and other provincial partners to create a British Columbia that is the best place for people, the best place for investment, and provides the best quality of life in the country,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
So far, she has heard \u201conly rumours\u201d about who else may be running in Surrey South.<\/p>\n
Former Conservative MLA Brent Chapman, who was elected to represent the riding in 2024, has since left the Conservatives for the OneBC Party.<\/p>\n
The party website lists him as candidate for South Surrey-White Rock, but no such provincial riding exists; there is Surrey South, and Surrey-White Rock. <\/p>\n
Peace Arch News has reached out to Chapman and to OneBC. <\/p>\n
Sturko is looking forward to the work ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of the work that I\u2019ve done, and I\u2019m extremely grateful for the opportunity provided to me by voters over the last four years. And I look forward to a bright future, whatever that is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Centre BC leader Elenore Sturko running in Surrey South for provincial election Published 1:09 pm Friday, September 25,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[903,49,48,163792,87674],"class_list":["post-909603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-lower-mainland","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}