SURREY, B.C. - When voters in Surrey-Cloverdale head to the polls on October 24, the OneBC name on the ballot belongs to a man who went from construction sites to company owner without ever leaving the trades. Travis Marchenski is a skilled tradesperson and small business owner who says his practical, hands-on background is exactly what Victoria is missing.
Marchenski lives in Surrey with his wife and young child. Born and raised in British Columbia, he learned the value of manual labour and perseverance early. After high school, he skipped the traditional academic route and went straight into the skilled trades – a decision that shaped his practical approach to problem-solving and community development.
He spent more than a decade on active construction sites, working his way up from entry-level labourer to skilled construction worker. Along the way he experienced firsthand the physical demands, safety challenges, and economic pressures facing working-class families. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, he then made the jump from employee to employer by founding his own small construction business.
Running that company gave him a deep education in the problems he now wants to fix: navigating bureaucratic regulations, managing payroll, and surviving fluctuating market conditions. Under his leadership, the business became known for reliability and for paying fair wages to local workers – lessons he says taught him to respect every dollar.
Marchenski’s campaign centres on the interests of working-class families and small business owners across the province. OneBC is a new provincial party, formed in June 2025 by former BC Conservative MLAs and led by interim leader Dallas Brodie of Vancouver-Quilchena. The party is running 34 candidates provincewide on lower taxes, balanced budgets, and safer streets.
Surrey-Cloverdale is a riding with a tight recent history. In 2024, Conservative Elenore Sturko took the seat with 10,268 votes, 587 ahead of NDP challenger Mike Starchuk at 9,681, with Green candidate Pat McCutcheon at 1,150. The 2026 field has five names: Nicholas Cartmell for the Conservatives, Stephen Dooley for the NDP, Sargy Chima for CentreBC, McCutcheon again for the Greens, and Marchenski for OneBC.
Advance voting in Surrey-Cloverdale runs October 16 to 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., at Hillcrest Elementary School, the KPU Cloverdale campus, and Katzie Elementary School. General voting day is Saturday, October 24.
Photo: OneBC (1bc.ca/candidates/tmarchenski)
Sources: 1bc.ca; Elections BC; Wikipedia (2024 riding results)
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