The political make-up of the legislature continues to shift even before a single vote is cast in the fall provincial election.
Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko has crossed the floor from the B.C. United to join the provincial Conservatives.
The move was announced Monday, coming right after MLA Lorne Doerkson also defected from B.C. United to join the Conservatives on Friday.
Sturko is a former RCMP officer and an openly gay member of the legislature. She's been a vocal defender of gender identity education in schools, something the B.C. Conservatives oppose.
Some candidates running for the Conservatives have used social media in the past to call her names like 'groomer,' and 'woke.'
Sturko was asked by C-FAX 1070's Adam Stirling about how she can get past those differences. "By joining this party, by helping John (Rustad) rebuild the coalition, we can show this is a big tent. Yes I'm a lesbian, the party knows that. They came to me. The pursued me. They know who I am."
She went on to say the gender identity education program known as SOGI she previously defended has become divisive and is eroding parents' trust in public education.
Doerkson was also on C-FAX with Al Ferraby, where he asked about the B.C. Conservative stance on social issues and about Damon Scrase, the party's candidate for Courtenay-Comox who stepped down last week. Social media posts surfaced that included Scrase calling Pride participants "degenerates" as well a being critical of those who support abortion.
"I think the party has been moving very quickly and because of that speed there's probably been a couple of errors along the way. The fact is, once exposed I'm pleased there was swift action to deal with that. I'm told that the vetting process has been improved," said Doerkson.
The two floor crossings mean there are now four Conservative members of the legislature, all of whom were elected as B.C. United members in the 2020 election.