Looking out for you in Surrey-Cloverdale

Mike Starchuk is a former Surrey firefighter, former Surrey City Councillor, and running to be re-elected as the MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale. A resident of Surrey for more than 50 years, he has dedicated his life to helping others in his community. In 2013, he received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work. 

Mike knows that Surrey-Cloverdale is a wonderful place to raise a family, and that people need a government that’s on their side looking out for them. He knows that’s not what people will get with John Rustad’s Conservatives. Together with David Eby and the BC NDP team, Mike is dedicated to making life better — by building hospitals, by investing in public transit, and by building homes for people. 

You can trust that he’s on your side.

Re-elect Mike Starchuk - BC NDP Candidate for Surrey-Cloverdale - MikeStarchuk.com

At The Heart Of This Election Is A Choice

An Opinion Editorial, written by Mike Starchuk, published in the Cloverdale Reporter:

Mike Starchuk is running for reelection as the MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.
(Photo courtesy: Malin Jordan – Cloverdale Reporter)

This upcoming election in British Columbia presents a stark choice for voters across the province, and especially in Surrey. On one hand, David Eby’s BC NDP Government has consistently prioritised investments in critical public infrastructure to serve Surrey’s rapid growth and needs. On the other hand, we have John Rustad’s BC Conservative Party, which has chosen to be a party of conspiracy theories, extreme positions, and science denial.

Since the BC NDP formed government in 2017, Surrey has experienced unprecedented investments in its schools. Over $900 million has been invested, creating 8,240 new seats for students, along with new playgrounds, school upgrades and improved resources for teachers. By providing this funding, our government is ensuring that children of all ages and backgrounds have the tools they need to learn and grow.
 
In contrast, however, John Rustad and the BC Conservative candidates are advocating to roll back this progress. By advocating for policies that would greatly increase class sizes, Rustad would overcrowd our classrooms, undermining the quality of education that our children receive. Larger class sizes are known to strain our teachers, diminish attention to our students, and exclude children with special needs. This approach to schools is the opposite of what parents in Surrey want, which is more, not less investments in education.
 
The BC Conservatives have also proposed a staggering $4.1 billion cut to our healthcare system. This cut would be devastating to communities across the province, and especially here in Surrey. With the new Surrey hospital under construction in Cloverdale and expansions to Surrey Memorial, Rustad’s cut-and-gut plans would put projects like these in jeopardy.
 
At the heart of this election is a choice between two very different visions for our province and for our community. The BC NDP Government has shown a commitment to investing in services that matter most to people. Including record investments in education, major expansions in healthcare infrastructure, and a SkyTrain expansion that will connect Langley and Cloverdale to the rest of Metro Vancouver. These investments are just a few of the tangible ways that the BC NDP has been meeting the needs of Surrey’s growing population. On the other hand, Rustad’s Conservatives have shown that they are willing to reverse this progress. Rustad was a member and cabinet minister in the BC Liberal Government until they lost power in 2017. Under his party, we saw deep cuts to services and even the selling of a future Surrey hospital site.
 
Surrey deserves leaders who are focused on the real issues that matter. In this election, the choice is clear. Surrey can continue to move forward with a government that is willing to invest in the future, or it can turn back the clock with a party that denies reality and threatens to undo the progress we’ve made.

Community BBQ – East View Park – August 17th

There is a free community Barbeque, hosted by Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchuk, on August 17th!

There will be free hot dogs available (Beef, Veggie, and Halal) as well as pop corn, and the world-famous Star Chuk game!

It all takes place on the corner of 61A and 190th, at East View Park, from 12 to 3 pm, on Saturday, August 17th.  (Please note: There are no washroom facilities, on site.)

Hope to see you there!

Below are a few photos from the event!​

There was a free community Barbeque, hosted by Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchuk, on August 17th! It all took place on the corner of 61A and 190th, at East View Park, from 12 to 3 pm, on Saturday, August 17th. - MikeStarchuk.com
There was a free community Barbeque, hosted by Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchuk, on August 17th! It all took place on the corner of 61A and 190th, at East View Park, from 12 to 3 pm, on Saturday, August 17th. - MikeStarchuk.com
There was a free community Barbeque, hosted by Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchuk, on August 17th! It all took place on the corner of 61A and 190th, at East View Park, from 12 to 3 pm, on Saturday, August 17th. - MikeStarchuk.com
There was a free community Barbeque, hosted by Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchuk, on August 17th! It all took place on the corner of 61A and 190th, at East View Park, from 12 to 3 pm, on Saturday, August 17th. - MikeStarchuk.com

Cloverdale Summer BBQ – July 21st

Our first BBQ of the summer is this SUNDAY, July 21 at NOON to 3PM at KPU Cloverdale. We will have hotdogs, samosas, watermelon, popcorn, freezies and plenty of bottled water all FREE! There will be face painting, the Star Chuk game and a photo booth. Come and join the fun!

Below are a few photos from the event!
And a look (over the fence) at the on-going construction of the new Cloverdale Hospital construction!

And, everyone was looking at the construction of the new Cloverdale Hospital… right THERE!

We Can’t Let Elenore Sturko Roll Back Our Progress

We woke up to a shocker this morning – the BCUP’s star candidate, Elenore Sturko, will be abandoning her party, and her riding, to run with the Conservatives here in Surrey-Cloverdale.

I’d like to welcome her to the race, and to the riding. Given that she’s not from here, and doesn’t spend a lot of time here, it’s a bit of a surprise – but who am I to argue? It’s my favourite part of BC!

But what’s even more surprising is that she’s switched to a party that doesn’t share her values. Just a few months ago, she was leading a standing ovation to denounce John Rustad. Now, she’s joining him, because she thinks it will help her keep her job.

I won’t lie to you: she’s a strong candidate. But while Elenore Sturko, BCUP and the Conservatives are focused on who is sitting where, we’re focused on taking action for you: building a new hospital and cancer centre in Cloverdale, new schools, and the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.

We can’t let Elenore Sturko roll back the progress we’ve made in Surrey-Cloverdale – whoever she’s running with.

Can I count on you to chip in to our Surrey-Cloverdale Victory Fund?

Your generous donation will help us gear up to run a strong campaign. It will help us pay for literature, staff, lawn signs, advertising, and everything else we need to tell our neighbours in Surrey-Cloverdale about the action we’re taking on housing, healthcare and affordability.

I won’t lie: this election is going to be close, and it will be decided in Surrey. When I think about what John Rustad would do to undo all the progress we’ve made on housing and healthcare, I worry – but then I remember I have my fellow New Democrats beside me.

Thank you for all you do.

Yours,

Mike Starchuk

MLA, Surrey-Cloverdale

Investing in Safe and Thriving Communities

The people that live in British Columbia are our greatest strength.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen our population grow. People want to live and raise their families in our communities. But at the same time, the impacts of climate change are putting pressure on some of our community infrastructure.

That’s why your New Democrat government, led by David Eby, is taking action to make sure that people in B.C. have what they need to build good lives in thriving, safe communities.

We’re building more hospitals and healthcare facilities, like a new hospital and cancer centre for Surrey in Cloverdale, and a new cancer centre in Kamloops. We’re also hiring and training more doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

File Photo – Photo Courtesy CFJC Today – Pattison Media

We’re expanding, upgrading and building more schools, so that kids can learn and play in safe, modern spaces. And we’re investing in active transportation projects so that people of all ages can get around their communities safely by walking, rolling or cycling.

We’re making it easier and faster to get around the region by building the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, the first rapid transit expansion south of the Fraser River in over 30 years.
 
We’re also making sure our growing communities are prepared to withstand the impacts of climate change. This includes helping farmers better equip themselves to collect and store water, so they can continue producing the food we depend on, even during a drought.

For many of us, the flooding that Abbotsford’s Sumas Prairie experienced in 2021 was one of the most devastating examples of climate change impacts we’ve seen. We are making critical upgrades to the Barrowtown Pump Station in Abbotsford so that farms and homes will be better protected from future flooding.

Across the province, more than 1,700 other projects are underway to help communities prepare for climate-related emergencies. From installing river-level sensors in Richmond, to building a dike along the Coldwater River in Merritt, we are working with communities to provide the support they need.

If a disaster does happen, people want to know that help and support will be there. We are providing more funding for Emergency Support Services so that communities can upgrade their ESS supplies, equipment, and procedures. We’re also providing new, streamlined training so that we can get more volunteers prepared to respond to help their neighbours during an emergency. After all, the resilience of a community depends on the strength and resilience of the people who live there.

B.C. is a great place to live, but we know there is always more we can do to make our communities even stronger. As your provincial government, we’re going to continue investing in people, and the services and infrastructure that they need to thrive.

 ~ Mike Starchuk – MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale


 

The above article is an an opinion piece, “Investing in Safe and Thriving Communities”, originally published by CFJC Today, on March 20, 2024