Surrey-Cloverdale candidates share their priorities and first-100-day plans

The newspaper asked all local candidates running in Surrey ridings in the 2026 B.C. provincial election to introduce themselves to voters through a questionnaire. Candidates received the same questions, word counts and deadlines. Responses for Surrey-Cloverdale are presented in the order received, with questions in bold and answers in the candidates’ own words.

**Pat McCutcheon, B.C. Green Party**

**One-sentence bio:** McCutcheon says he is a retired professional engineer who has lived in Cloverdale for 25 years and has a history of advocating for a better B.C.

**Top three priorities:** Tackling the high cost of living; building affordable housing; addressing climate change and electrifying the economy.

**What would you like to achieve in your first 100 days if elected?** McCutcheon says he would advocate for tax-code changes that give a tax break to the workforce, which he describes as the builders of the economy and society, while increasing taxes on financial speculators, including cryptocurrency, options, futures and prediction-market traders. He would also advocate for a wealth tax on households with more than $50 million in wealth and push the government to build more affordable housing. He describes the fossil-fuel-based economy as a declining sunset industry and says B.C. must electrify and rapidly shift to renewable energy for future generations and to benefit from the energy transition.

**Why should voters elect you?** McCutcheon says traditional political parties have failed British Columbians over the past 50 years. He says social services have declined, wealth inequality has risen sharply, housing has become unaffordable and climate change has been ignored. He argues structural change is needed to reverse the decline and says the BC Greens are the only party that understands this.

Voters can find more information at bcgreens.ca/candidates-2026/pat-mccutcheon, by emailing pat.mccutcheon@bcgreens.ca or through the BlueSky account @pmccut.bsky.social.

**Travis Marchenski, OneBC**

**One-sentence bio:** Marchenski describes himself as a hard-working, blue-collar family man raising a young family in Cloverdale.

**Top three priorities:** Protecting property rights; a 25 per cent provincial tax cut; overhauling B.C.’s health-care system.

**What would you like to achieve in your first 100 days if elected?** Marchenski says his commitment for the first 100 days is to master legislative procedures so the community’s voice is strongly represented. He says he will maintain an active, visible presence among Cloverdale’s working people and establish a new constituency office in Clayton with a strict open-door policy for questions and concerns. He contrasts this with the previous administration, under which he says many constituents experienced unanswered emails, phone calls and in-person visits. He says his office will prioritize accessibility, prompt responses and accountability to every voter in the community.

**Why should voters elect you?** Marchenski says he stands for ordinary people and is a blue-collar tradesperson in the middle of his working life who faces the same issues as other people raising young children. He says becoming a father sparked his concern for the future and drives him to build a better world for all children.

Voters can find more information at 1bc.ca or by emailing travis.marchenski@1bc.ca.

The newspaper says responses from Nicholas Cartmell of the Conservative Party, Sargy Chima of CentreBC and Stephen Dooley of the BC NDP will be added if they are received.