Elenore Sturko
Elenore Sturko is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2022. She was first elected in a 2022 by-election in Surrey South as a member of the BC Liberal Party. In June 2024, she crossed the floor to join the BC Conservatives, and was elected later that year in Surrey-Cloverdale in the provincial election. On September 22, 2025, Sturko was removed from the BC Conservative caucus.
Education and early career
Sturko graduated from Kamloops Senior Secondary, then entered the broadcasting industry by joining CFJC-TV in Kamloops. She became a reservist with the Canadian Forces Air Command in 2007, serving with the Yellowknife-based 440 Transport Squadron.She then joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2009, eventually attaining the rank of staff sergeant. During this time she initially served in Langley before transferring back to Yellowknife in 2012 working as a frontline police officer and later as a community policing and media relations officer. She traveled extensively in the North, working with Indigenous communities, and participated in the Arctic Sovereignty Patrol.
Sturko and her family moved to Ottawa in 2016, joining the RCMP Musical Ride and also participating in the 2017 cross-country tour celebrating Canada 150. Stationed in Surrey since 2018, she became a spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP. Throughout her career she has served as an advisor on issues related to gender, sexual orientation, and harassment.
Political career
Following Stephanie Cadieux's resignation as Surrey South MLA, Sturko was approached by BC Liberal leader Kevin Falcon to run as the party's candidate, and was elected to the legislature in the September 2022 by-election. She was named the official opposition education critic that October, and became shadow minister for Mental Health, Addiction, Recovery and Education that December.On June 3, 2024, she announced her decision to leave BC United and sit in the legislature as a Conservative, becoming the party's fourth MLA. She contested the electoral district of Surrey-Cloverdale in that October's provincial election, defeating the incumbent New Democratic Party candidate Mike Starchuk to become that riding's MLA. She was named to Conservative leader John Rustad's shadow cabinet that November, serving as critic for Solicitor General and Public Safety.
A leaked letter signed by 13 BC Conservative MLAs attacking Sturko exposed a rift within the party weeks after it became the official opposition. This group sent a letter to party leader John Rustad raising concerns about public comments Sturko made on November 23, 2024 regarding the appropriateness for the Vancouver Police Board to accept the resignation of vice-chair Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba after Sakoma-Fadugba made anti-immigration, racist, and transphobic comments on social media. This letter was sent by BC Conservative MLAs who rallied behind Sakoma-Fadugba calling her a victim of cancel culture, and called Rustad to ask Sturko, whom they believe spoke out of turn, to send a written apology to Sakoma-Fadugba. Sturko responded saying she has no plans to change her statement.
On September 23, 2025, she was removed from the Conservative caucus by John Rustad and became an independent MLA. She claimed that she had been prevented from voicing her "more socially liberal beliefs" while with the Conservatives.