Elenore Sturko is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of CentreBC since 2026. A member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA), she represented the electoral district of Surrey South from 2022 to 2024 and has represented Surrey-Cloverdale since 2024. Initially elected as a member of the BC Liberal Party (later renamed BC United), she crossed the floor to the BC Conservatives in 2024.
Sturko was removed from the BC Conservative caucus in September 2025. After sitting as an independent, she joined CentreBC in September 2026.
Early career and education 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 (RCMP) in 2009, eventually earning 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 northern Canada, working with Indigenous communities and participating 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's 150th anniversary. 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's 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 member of the BC Conservatives, becoming the party's fourth MLA. She contested the electoral district of Surrey-Cloverdale in that October's provincial election, defeating the New Democratic Party incumbent Mike Starchuk. 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 Conservative MLAs attacking Sturko exposed a rift within the party weeks after it became the official opposition. The group sent a letter to 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 racist, anti-immigration, and transphobic comments on social media. The group rallied behind Sakoma-Fadugba, calling her a victim of cancel culture, and called on Rustad to ask Sturko, whom they believe spoke out of turn, to send a written apology to Sakoma-Fadugba. Sturko responded by saying she had no plans to change her statement.
On September 22, 2025, she was removed from the Conservative caucus by Rustad and became an independent MLA. She claimed that she had been prevented from voicing her "more socially liberal beliefs" while with the Conservatives.
On February 25, 2026 Sturko was elected as Chair of the Special Committee on Police Complaints. She was elected with the support of NDP MLAs, while Conservative MLAs on the committee were opposed.
Sturko joined seven other former Conservative MLAs in joining CentreBC on September 18, 2026. On September 22, following the departure of the other seven MLAs back to the Conservative Party, she became the party's new leader.
She is standing in Surrey South at the 2026 British Columbia general election.
Personal life Sturko lives in Surrey with her wife, Melissa, and their three children.
Electoral history
References